Formafantasma investigates affect of timber trade at Cambio exhibition

Formafantasma has curated a research-focused exhibition on the Serpentine Sackler Gallery in London, UK, which goals to unravel the worldwide affect of the forestry trade.

Entitled Cambio, the present sheds gentle on the legality and environmental affect of the extraction, manufacturing and distribution of wooden to make merchandise all over the world.

Forward of the exhibition’s opening, the pair spoke to Dezeen’s chief content material officer Ben Hobson concerning the concepts behind Cambio defined why designers ought to endeavour to grasp the provenance and affect of supplies that they use.

Cambio is a research-based exhibition by Formafantasma

It’s the third design exhibition hosted by the Serpentine Sackler Gallery in its historical past, although unconventionally, its focus is on course of and ecological considerations slightly than on completed objects.

Formafantasma’s intention is to exhibit that the usage of timber just isn’t at all times as sustainable because it appears, and invite designers to query their function in making a extra sustainable future.

“Your complete purpose for Formafantasma and for us was to offer area to the side of design that’s not essentially producing completed objects,” Serpentine curator Rebecca Lewin instructed Dezeen.

“It’s a area for experimentation and the presentation of analysis.”

It seeks to unravel the worldwide affect of the forestry trade

The Italian duo Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin’s curated Cambio off the again of quite a few conversations and collaborations with totally different practitioners and specialists from the timber trade.

Timber was chosen as its focus as a result of it is likely one of the most globally plentiful supplies in design and structure. Nevertheless, the pair consider a lot of its customers are unaware that wooden is commonly unethically sourced from fragile ecosystems.

Watch our discuss with Formafantasma from the Serpentine Sackler Gallery in London

Its title, Cambio, makes reference to the cambium membrane of a tree – a layer liable for producing wooden on the within of a trunk, and bark on its exterior.

The exhibition’s structure additionally nods to the time period, following a concentric structure round two rooms at its centre.

It was curated by Formafantasma with quite a few specialists from the timber trade

A spotlight of the exhibition is a bit devoted to the “forensic evaluation” of typical wood merchandise offered within the UK annually, which examines whether or not or not they’re legally and ethically sourced.

This encompasses a tower-like set up made up IKEA Bekväm stool replicas, which the studio crafted from seven totally different species of tree reminiscent of cherry and chestnut.

The exhibition focuses on processes and analysis slightly than on completed objects

Formafantasma has stacked the stools in response to how lengthy the timber used to make them had been grown earlier than logging. This subsequently orders them by how a lot carbon dioxide they’d have captured within the course of.

The purpose is to tell guests that for a wood product to be sustainable, its helpful life ought to be no less than so long as the time that it took for the tree to develop.

On the centre of Cambio are two movies that give a whole overview of the trade

“It is displayed in such a means that the decrease stool is the one which had a perfect logging time of 60 years. Usually the trade reduce them a lot earlier stage,” Farresin instructed Dezeen.

“Principally what we’re saying with the set up is that ideally every object ought to exceeds the lifetime of a tree in an effort to create a coherent loop between the carbon dioxide consumption and it is emission as soon as the thing is discarded.”

In keeping with Trimarchi, “the extra academic a part of the exhibition” is at its coronary heart, the place two seats are positioned in entrance of two rolling movies.

Produced by Formafantasma, these movies supply a “visible essay” of the timber trade, created utilizing the findings of their interviews with wooden specialists.

The duo hope the present will encourage designers to query their function in making a sustainable future

Aptly, all of the shelving used all through the exhibition was crafted by Formafantasma from a single pine tree salvaged from Val di Fiemme – a forest in northern Italy that was destroyed in 2018 by a storm.

The reason being to highlight that if it had not have used it, the tree would have been left to rot and the carbon dioxide it had saved over its progress can be launched again to the ambiance.

“The explanation why it is crucial is that this deeper is as a result of on this one space, carbon dioxide will probably be launched, which isn’t attainable to deal with for the ecosystem,” mentioned Farresin.

“In fact it is extra symbolic gesture as a result of eradicating one tree is principally nothing within the space, however it only a option to present that in design even the smallest resolution generally is a extra contextual and self conscious resolution that goes past aesthetics and formal preferences.”

Dezeen spoke to the duo to seek out out extra concerning the concepts behind Cambio forward of its opening

Cambio is now open on the Serpentine Sackler Gallery till the 17 Might 2020. Guests also can view an accompanying catalogue revealed by the Serpentine Galleries with Koenig Books.

Formafantasma will proceed its investigation into the trade as a part of Geo Design masters course will probably be heading up at Design Academy Eindhoven in September.

Led by Italian design duo Trimarchi and Farresin, Formafantasma is an Amsterdam-based studio identified for its product design and materials investigations.

Pictures is by George Darrell.