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De Natura Fossilium / 89

Fascinated by the landscape of Etna (a mine without miners) Formafantasma concentrate on lava in a new research project, presented at the Milan Design Week.

Already presented at Miart and the Libby Sellers gallery in London, the new project by Formafantasma, De Natura Fossilium also makes an appearance at the Milan Furniture Fair, in the frescoed spaces of Palazzo Clerici.

Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin continue base their work on the appeal of the material itself, in this particular case lava, the protagonist and subject of an extensive investigation into the volcanic landscape (“Etna is a mine without miners”, explain the designers).

As always, the process counts as much if not more than the results: at Murano the lava has been melted and blown adapting the kilns normally used for glass while at the Audax Textiel Museum in Tilburg, it has been spun and transformed into fabric.

The project, that was conceived in collaboration with the centre for vulcanology in Catania, has led to the creation of a collection of vases, tables, clocks and mirrors made entirely from lava in different stages of definition: from rock to smooth crystal and on to fibre.