Italian designers Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin are the brains behind the Forma Fantasma design studio. The name means "Invisible Shape" in Italian.
The two recently graduated from the IM Master program at the Design Academy Eindhoven with a very interesting research about the concept of "tradion".
Their inspiration came from the city of Caltagirone, a part of the “ Sicilian baroque district”; groups of cities famous for their beautiful 17th century architecture. The city is also famous for its ceramics and its purported local tradition. At least three hundred craftsmen are working in the city.
The citizens of the city use a word to describe the incredible amount of ceramic produced there: tradition.The Designers say: "As iconic core and inspiration we used one of the most famous traditional Sicilian artwork: “teste di moro”. These are copies of vases of the 17th century that display the face of a native African- or Arab-looking man or woman. These artefact refer to a period of Sicilian history when Arab-African people conquered Sicily. Due to this invasion the tradition of majolica started in Italy and later in other European countries. Our project is a statement on the ephemeral concept of tradition and shows the contradictions of a decadent culture: if as Italians (and European) we are able to represent our culture with a "Moor vase", at the same time we must be able to go beyond prejudice and fear, and to let our culture change in the course of time. "
I really love this project, their topic is definetely something about what the creative world needs to reflect upon.
