The curious positive machines of Hermès’ Japanese shop windows

Irony and beauty, in a pure Munari style, in the Japanese windows of Hermès. The desire of sharing is the core idea of the project Taking an Airing by Italian artist and designer Gianluca Malgeri for Hermès stores in Japan. Thanks to a fruitful collaboration with Arina Endo, Malgeri has given life to a small crowd of curious machines, able to release physical and mental pleasures, like practicing Yoga or unleashing one’s singing talent in an open-air Karaoke. These “wellness machines”, made of wheels, pedals, propellers, antennas, transmitters and parables connected to each other, create a joint narrative between the different windows of the renowned luxury brand venues in Japan. The desire is to represent the joy of open-air sociality and the respect of the natural human pace, while at the same time, to emphasize the role of global media, that offered us support during the confinement caused by the pandemic. Indeed, the project, was developed during the first lockdown, focusing the attention on the viewers of these colorful “theaters” that, aside from the influences of artists such as Bruno Munari, they also issue cross references Futurist artists like Fortunato Depero. The Passersby, the curious and the observers are absorbed by dream-like, suspended and colorful settings, where dynamism and reciprocal connections evoke a desire of a new vitality and positivity.

A project that Malgeri himself defines a “tribute to communication as a desire for participation”. Taking an Airing shows a strong wish to revive a memory made up of inspirations and homages marked by a vocation to positive thinking, through a brilliant and equally thoughtful game.