THE CAFE AT THE NEW FONDAZIONE OFFICINE SAFFI PREMISES DRESSES IN ART, WITH DYS TECHNOLOGY

The Iris Ceramica Group large slabs, decorated with the Design Your Slabs printing technology, were used to customise the bar space in the new Fondazione Officine Saffi premises in Via Niccolini 35A, Milan. For its new space, the non-profit foundation working internationally with contemporary ceramics, appointed Francesco Simeti to create a high-impact, site-specific art work. The title of the work, “Questa stanza non ha più pareti” (“This room no longer has walls”), is a clear reference to a famous and historical Italian song, borrowed here to tell of a dual metaphor: on one hand, the reference to the continuous decoration covering the whole room, and on the other expressing the desire to overcome geographical and historical boundaries.

The work is in fact a true transposition of historical ceramic findings from different eras and places around the world. The project took over six months of historical and geographical research, offering a real challenge for the artist, who was able to create a collage with a perfect balance of solids and voids, harmonising the blank spaces with the decorations.

A topic that has always inspired Francesco Simeti, here nature is represented by land, sea and sky in a totally harmonious, perfect world. Although not portrayed, humans are present and very much alive through their interaction with the space, thus becoming a part of the natural environment that surrounds them.

DYS technology reproduced every detail of the collage, including the apparent “defects” such as the crackled glazes and tiny missing details, thus maintaining its historical authenticity. The colours are both shaded and solid, while the more graceful subjects, birds and butterflies, are reproduced in shiny gold.

The project will continue to develop through a series of workshops curated by Simeti, with the participation of various groups and communities. During the workshops, the artist will once again “get his hands dirty” with ceramics, creating new nature-inspired elements to complete the site-specific work over time.