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RESEARCH AND EXPERIMENTATION EXHIBITIONS AT ABITARE IL TEMPO 2004 These "cultural" exhibitions are the results of deep
research carried out by designers on particular themes, materials, techniques
of given geographical areas. The common denominator of these shows is
the presentation of original projects and prototype objects.
Vico Magistretti + Cleto Munari
THE HOUSE OF GREGOR SAMSA by Giuseppe Albanese
(An Interactive Extrasensorial Installation) with the participation of Kundalini
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THE HOUSE OF GREGOR SAMSA Cubist Décor in Bohemia by Giuseppe Albanese Sponsored by Verona Chamber of Commerce
Gregor Samsa is the protagonist of “Metamorphosis” (1916) the most famous of Franz Kafka’s stories. Set in Prague in the 1910’s, the story becomes the narrative thread of the exhibition on Bohemian cubism, the third chapter of a critical reassessment of avant-garde artistic European décor of the 20th century. Abitare il Tempo has been carrying out this study now for several years through the reconstruction of furniture and objects sometimes previously unseen. At the beginning of the last century, Prague was, on a par with other European capitals, a centre in full ferment, in constant search of its own artistic identity. A group of architects and artists, outstanding amongst whom were Janak, Gocar, Hofman and Prochazka, identified in Paris cubism the figurative alphabet from which to derive inspiration to create a new architectural language, which was immediately extended to furnishing as well. The PUD (Artistic Workshops of Prague) set up by these same artists in 1912, using Hoffmann’s model of the Wiener Werkstätte, produced modern interiors with furniture characterised by broken lines, pointed profiles and deep engraving. About twenty pieces of furniture will be reconstructed by furniture manufacturers in the Verona area. Some of these pieces will be constructed for the first time using simple working sketches done by various protagonists of this movement. The set-up will be a real setting, where the key images of Kafka’s story will be recreated: the black beetle- the monstrous insect into which Gregor Samsa finds himself transformed-; the apple- the object cause of his death-; the furniture from his room- imagined as cubist; and the sounds of a violin which, as happened for Gregor Samsa, forced him to come out of the room in which he had been cloistered for months, will draw visitors into a ‘fantastic’ place. Pasquale Bianchini, Francesco Cappiello, Alessandra Covino, Alessandro d’Aloia, Alessandra Saini and Valeria Spinelli collaborated on this project. |