MAK DESIGN SALON #02 STUDIO FORMAFANTASMA. The Stranger Within

14 September–1 December '13

Vienna

Society’s ambivalent stances toward the “foreign” or “strange” are the theme that Studio Formafantasma (Simone Farresin, *1983 and Andrea Trimarchi, *1980) have chosen for their presentation The Stranger Within, to be held as MAK DESIGN SALON #02.

For the second time, this series of MAK exhibitions will open up the Empire and Biedermeier atmosphere of the MAK Branch Geymüllerschlössel, to statements of contemporary design. In dialog with the stately home’s historical sub- stance, The Stranger Within introduces a total of seven interventions in space that deal with the paradox phenomena of yearning for distant places and Biedermeier-era coziness or homeliness that one can experience at the Geymüllerschlössel.

The central work The Stranger Within, Nodus Rug (2013) is a rug designed spe- cifically for the Geymüllerschlössel’s Blue Salon in collaboration with the Italian producer Nodus. This piece, derived from the texture and coloration of the sur- rounding interior spaces, is reminiscent of an oversized mask and functions as a mystical metaphor of the foreign. Stood upright in the middle of the Salon, the rug acts like a totem around which the other exhibits distribute themselves through the villa’s adjoining rooms. This textile work was made as a reference to the Jewish family of textile manufacturer Isidor Mautner, which owned the villa from 1888 to 1938 and was then forced to flee the country after the National So- cialists took power. The combination of this rug with objects made of inflated or hardened pig’s bladders, such as the Bladder Chandelier (2013), evoke associa- tions with folkloric Carnival traditions.

Studio Formafantasma, Rug Cream, 2013, © Studio Formafantasma

Studio Formafantasma, Craftica, 2012, © Luisa Zanzani, Courtesy Fendi

Studio Formafantasma, Rebus, 2013 , © Studio Formafantasma

Studio Formafantasma, Craftica, 2012, © Luisa Zanzani, Courtesy Fendi

Studio Formafantasma, Craftica Cream, 2013 , © Studio Formafantasma

Studio Formafantasma, Craftica, 2012, © Luisa Zanzani, Courtesy Fendi

Studio Formafantasma, Bladder Cream, 2013, © Studio Formafantasma

Studio Formafantasma, Botanica, 2011, © Luisa Zanzani, Courtesy Plart Foundation