“Autarky” pays homage to the uncomplicated, the simple and the everyday.
Formafantasma developed further the material, the concept of the previous project “baked”, and the celebrative and folk spirit of the “cene di san giuseppe” in sicily, “Atarky” is an installation that proposes an autonomous way of producing goods.
Autarchy outlines a hypothetical scenario where a community is embracing a serene and self inflicted embargo where nature is personally cultivated, harvested and processed, to feed and make tools to serve human necessities.
In the installation, a collection of functional and durable vessels and lamps, naturally desiccated or low temperature baked, are produced with a bio-material composed of 70% flour, 20% agricultural waste, and 10% natural limestone. The differences in the colour palette are obtained by the selection of distinct vegetables, spices and roots that are dried, boiled or filtered for their natural dyes.
As guests in the project, studio formafantasma invited the Italian broom maker Giuseppe Brunello and the renowned french bakery Poilane, to join in the development of the installation .
The cereal sorghum works as a link between these crafts – in a perfect production process without waste, the cereal is harvested and used to create tools, vessels and foods.
via Matteo Bandello 14/16
As an open source where information and knowledge are shared, the installation displays the different steps in the research, explaining the material and production processes of the products.the furniture used to display the products are based on the manufacturing and drying processes used in the project, and feature a drying oven and mill.
“Autarky” suggests an alternative way of producing goods where inherited knowledge is used to find sustainable and uncomplicated solutions.
In this utopian scenario, Sorghum becomes the central aspect. The harvested grain becomes brooms and is milled to become flour, which is baked into bread and transformed into durable vessels and lamps (70% flour, 20% agricultural waste and 10% limestone). The variation in color comes from a selection of vegetables, spices and roots that have been dried, boiled and filtered for their dyes. The pedestals used to display the work also reference Sorghum—a drying oven and a mill. The installation is meant not only as an exhibition, but also as a vehicle to share this information, illustrating every step of the production process.
The differences in the colour palette are obtained by the selection of distinct vegetables, spices and roots that are dried, boiled or filtered for their natural dyes.
In cooperation with a chemist Studio Formafantasma rediscover old natural techniques used in the renaissance to lacquer and make the surfaces of the objects water-proof.
Co-designing in collaboration with giuseppe brunello, studio formafantasma added to the traditional straw-broom new subtile details to underline the beauty and the perfection of a timeless object.
Instead of discarding materials, instead of adding materials, instead of being processed, nature takes its deserved space: studio formafantasma asked to giuseppe brunello to maintain the cereal sorgho integral of the roots in one case and of the grain ears in the other.
A functional plume is in the last example, “growing” at the end of the wooden stick.
Egg is used as a paint to add a bright detail on the dry surface of the bowls.
The vessels and lamps are produced with a bio-material composed of 70% flour, 20% agricultural waste, and 10% natural limestone
