Capitalism is Over

During the 2017 Milan Design Week, the end of capitalism is on display at Cascina Cuccagna. “Capitalism is Over” is the tongue-in-cheek title that the Milanese collective Raumplan has given to an exploration of the manufacturing processes of contemporary design. It aims to expose the contradictions of a world that is increasingly polarised between giant multinationals and marginal endeavours.

The core of the exhibition is made up of two photograph series, one by Louis De Belle and the other by Delfino Sisto Lignani. Respectively, their emblematic case studies look at the past and the present/future of Italian industrial production. On the one hand, there is the nostalgic portrait of Olivetti, a historical industry of excellence in our country. De Belle entered the old factory premises and archives of this manufacturer of several famous Italian design objects, such as the Lettera 22, the Divisumma and the Valentine typewriter. His photos show the ghosts of the golden age of Italian industry and design. The Olivetti series is counterposed by a contemporary photo report on the Italian premises of Ikea and Amazon. New production processes are increasingly quick, efficient, immaterial and impersonal, showing a definitive transfer from the economy of the product to the economy of the service.

  The third section of the exhibition is called “New Times, New Rules”, an archipelago of independent and innovative approaches, processes and projects. They are sprouts of the postcapitalist economy that have eschewed the specialisation of work and the division between intellectual and manual labour, taking back control of the entire production process of design.

4 – 9 April 2017
Capitalism is Over
curated by Raumplan
Cascina Cuccagna
via Cuccagna 2/4, Milan