metaphysical entities
CONTEMPORARY DESIGN ANALYSIS 2019 Anne Christine Weder | 043194 Patrick James Almera | 050800
01 TREND DEFINITION
/mɛtəˈfɪzɪk(ə)l/ - concerned with abstract thought or subjects, as existence, causality, or truth. concerned with first principles and ultimate grounds, as being, time, or substance.
metaphysical entities
/ˈɛntɪti/ - a thing with distinct and independent existence. METAPHYSICAL ENTITIES
Coming from the historical and aesthetic values of Georgio De Chirico, Metaphysical Entities explore the new surrealism in the modern world.
In the modern world, digital approach is becoming more accessible and relevant and this is exactly how this trend is evolving. Through technology, designers and artists have more freedom and unlimited resources in recreating metaphysical entities but still keeping through to the foundation of metaphysics.
Patrick Almera & Anne Christine Weder
“Metaphysic”s is the branch of philosophy that examines the fundamental nature of reality, including the relationship between mind and matter, between substance and attribute, and between possibility and actuality. Merging this term with “Entity” gives life to this approach. It touches both real and unreal worlds which makes it design possibilities close to being limitless.
Patrick Almera & Anne Christine Weder
surrealist wonder
METAPHYSICAL ENTITIES
playful tendencies
MOOD BOARD
classic de chirico
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03
imaginary fictitious fairy tale
TAG CLOUD
UNREAL
ILLUSION mirage phantasm fantasy deception
bizarre unusual unearthly weird
transcedent paranormal represenataional other-worldly
METAPHYSICAL theoretical conceptual Giorgio De Chirico philosophical
Patrick Almera & Anne Christine Weder
MYSTICAL
METAPHYSICAL ENTITIES
SURREAL
04 CASE STUDIES
METAPHYSICAL ENTITIES
INSIDE ART
notooSTUDIO srl 2018
Giorgio de Chirico is representated in these scenarios through its geometric forms, his audacities and metaphysical spaces.
Patrick Almera & Anne Christine Weder
INSIDE ART is an artistic project that starts from the idea of re-creating a purely two-dimensional world in 3D. The concept there is at the base it is just that to bring the style, shapes and colors that inspired the artist to life, to create a completely conceptual space in which the abstract work comes in contact with the design and contemporary furniture.
04 CASE STUDIES
METAPHYSICAL ENTITIES
With her works she searches to underline the psychological and social aspects of our identity and effects that endless soul searching has on our lives.
TALE OF BLUE PEAR Nikolina Petolas Artistic Series
In her metaphorical presentations, from dreamlike landscapes and fantasy scenery to strange and dark characters, creatures and environments, she uses the observation of inner conflicts and questions that arise from them, as a dreamy and vivid example to show complex human emotions and drives as well as her subjective personal experience of the world.
Patrick Almera & Anne Christine Weder
Nikolina is a photographer and visual artist from Zagreb, Croatia. She works in various techniques, such as photo collage, oils and acrylics.
04 CASE STUDIES
METAPHYSICAL ENTITIES
Aleksandra Morawiak 2015-2017
Collages depict the different stages in which people are when they grow up and the different emotions they experience. It’s about the child’s curiosity about the world; about games created in the imagination; about getting to know and interpreting evil, showing the way through our loved ones, but also about when these people become overprotective of us and how it affects us.
Patrick Almera & Anne Christine Weder
I SAW AS MUCH BUT NEVER HEARD THEM
Forms on multiple scales, echoes of archetypal design principles, a modern industrial material like no other and an iconic My main sphere of creative interest is man and his relationship with space and himself, which gives expression in my works. Collage technique is an ideal medium for exploring in myself and for setting new worlds. The stories in the series “I saw as much but never heard them” are a completely subjective attempt to visualize states and thoughts that everyone experienced during childhood and later in adolescence, when our identity and self-consciousness were developing.
METAPHYSICAL ENTITIES
Fabbrica del Vapore, Milano 2018
Curated by the Belgian art historian Julie Waseige , “Inside Magritte” is an itinerary in which the atmospheres and the subjects of his paintings are probably absolute protagonists, probably among the most famous images of the painting of the 20th century: the men in a bowler hat floating in the sky of the metropolises, the human bodies with the fish head, the famous non-pipe pipe (Ceci n’est pas une pipe).
Patrick Almera & Anne Christine Weder
RENEE MAGRITTE & THE INSIDE MAGRITTE EXHIBITION
An experience between the real and the imaginary, between the evocation of a dream world and the story of the concrete life of one of the greatest painters of the twentieth century and one of the greatest exponents of surrealism. For the first time ever, a digital and multisensory monographic exhibition dedicated to the Belgian artist is realized with the support and scientific advice of the Magritte Succession of Brussels . In this context, the agreement was born that led Crossmedia Group, the largest Italian exhibition of Digital Exhibition, to the acquisition of the exclusive copyright of “Inside Magritte” to present a new exhibition format suspended between the real and the imaginary.
04 CASE STUDIES
METAPHYSICAL ENTITIES
PERFECT REALITY Six N. FIve. for Samsung 2018
This project called Perfect Reality showcases the new QLED 8K talking about limits between the real world and the TV world. They played around with Samsung’s tagline #PerfectReality generating two quick trips of 15 seconds where the line between these two worlds is totally blurred and where the viewer is unsure which is real and which is the QLED.
Patrick Almera & Anne Christine Weder
Six N. Five is an agency the creates out of this world graphics. They collaborate with brands as well as designers to come up with stunning 3D Visuals.
04
Forms on multiple scales, echoes of archetypal design principles, a modern industrial material like no other and an iconic backdrop rich in history‌ welcome to Formations.
CASE STUDIES
During Milan Design Week 2019, Tarkett has chosen to join forces with our studio to explore the creative possibilities of its new collection iQ Surface
Note Design Studio for Tarkett Milan Design Week 2019
Patrick Almera & Anne Christine Weder
FORMATIONS
In light of this contrast between modernity and tradition, Formations takes archetypes of design principles and transforms them into oversized shapes and flowing forms that dress the different spaces of the historic Circolo Filologico Milanese. The installation uses iQ Surface in ways that aim to shift even the most stubborn of preconceptions about the possibilities of vinyl, seeing it as a design material with its own identity.
METAPHYSICAL ENTITIES
. Designed by us at Note, and supported by Magis, Formations is an exhibition that questions notions of scale, by taking architectural archetypes and turning them on their head. Owning the space of the historic Circolo Filologico Milanese, the installation is a celebration and homage to how design language can be twisted into new creative phrases.
04 CASE STUDIES
With his revolutionary paintings somewhere between the mythical and the everyday, straddling an archaic past and pure modernity, Giorgio De Chirico’s influence has bled far beyond art and the surrealist movement that followed. His metaphysical imprint has left a mark in countless fields, from poetry to fashion and design. Today, works from the Italian painter still represent a continuous source of inspiration, which has recently found new life in Milan’s latest restaurant, Otivm.
METAPHYSICAL ENTITIES
Situated in Via Gaetano Negri, at the corner of Via Santa Maria Segreta, the space extends over 400 square meters in the heart of the city, unfolding according to the designs of N+M Design Studio, who crafted the interiors of Otivm in harmony with the enveloping architecture of Gio Ponti. It’s here that the studio’s architect and designer created a location exceeding the standard architectural classics to give life to new forms recalling the canon of metaphysical paintings from De Chirico: a task that mixed the principles of interior design and architecture to create a bold, theatrical, and surrealistic atmosphere.
OTIVM RESTAURANT N+M Design Studio Milan, 2019
https://www.elledecor.com/it/best-of/a26975968/otivm-restaurant-milan/
Patrick Almera & Anne Christine Weder
Among the most characteristic elements of the Otivm restaurant is the resin flooring, which follows sinuous lines echoing the soft movement of the ceiling, as if to embrace diners in a charming and intimate space. The classical nature of De Chirico’s work is mimicked in the clean lines of arches, realized to establish and underline the perspective, which is accentuated by a yellow/orange background creating indefinite images that play coi, inciting diverse interpretations.
04 CASE STUDIES
LES ARCANISTES Studiopepe.
Milan Design Week 2019
Patrick Almera & Anne Christine Weder
The Arcanists were ante-litteram chemists, who held the arcane and secret knowledge of formulas able to create porcelain and to work with materials such as glass and metals.
Studiopepe, in collaboration with their partners, designs a path through design and bespoke pieces, re-editions of historical pieces, art pieces and installation rooms in which the connection between matter, archetypes and the power of symbols is deepened. Over the centuries, from Renaissance courts to Jungian psychoanalysis, forever suspended between the rational and irrational, divining practices have become increasingly complex rituals. The interpretation of the Arcana is a tool for personal growth, through the study of the archetypes that the cards represent. The experience of Les Arcanistes translates into a sequence of spaces: the Source of the Vibrational Water, the Materioteca, the Alchemic Laboratory and the Mantica Society.
METAPHYSICAL ENTITIES
Studiopepe’s Manifesto Project for Milan Design Week 2019 will be held inside a large industrial space, a former gold manufacture dating back to the 1900s.
04 CASE STUDIES
METAPHYSICAL ENTITIES
RISE-MARBLE STORIES Gustavo Martini
Milan Design Week 2018
The idea is a collection of marble furniture that exists in this environment of constant movement, where these objects rest on the shape of the steps. As the furniture is placed on a flat surface, they are integrated with Marquina black marble elements that fill the bases and bring us back to the dynamics of this place.
Patrick Almera & Anne Christine Weder
For the 2018 Fuori Salone Martini created an urban cave, exploring an archetype from the architecture – the stairs, transporting them to this place of estrangement, building a small geometric universe that manipulates the visitors’ perception and their relation with the surrounding space.
04 CASE STUDIES
METAPHYSICAL ENTITIES
Fabio Novembre for Driade 2018
novembre draws his inspiration from the wooden crates used by museums to transport statues and transforms them into graceful design objects. it has been classified as a bookcase but a different point of view may regard venus as the statue of a goddess. both opinions are correct and interconnected. venus is both things: art i.e. the possibility of enjoying its beauty, and function, an essential part of design.
Patrick Almera & Anne Christine Weder
VENUS BOOK CASE
“canova imagined that his venus had been caught unawares in the nude and he gave her a marble veil to hide herself from indiscrete eyes. i add a succession of wooden shelves that cross the most private parts of her body to camouflage her in the midst of books and other objects. a four-handed job performed at different moments in time by two italians who are particularly fascinated by the epitome of female beauty: venus.� fabio novembre
04 CASE STUDIES
Fabio Novembre Milan 2018
Patrick Almera & Anne Christine Weder
VENINI MUSE TABLE LAMP
Iin 1916, to escape the atrocious folly of the war, a group of six young men had themselves admitted to villa seminario military hospital in ferrara,’ mentions fabio novembre, ‘their names were: giorgio de chirico, carlo carrà, alberto savinio, and filippo de pisis.
their rejection of reality led them to construct an alternative reality that they called metaphysics, a world made up of muses and enigmas, angst and enchantment.’ drawing from the figures of that alternative, metaphysical reality, and particularly from de chirico’s famous artwork ‘the disquieting muses’, the italian designer’s piece takes the shape of a tailor’s mannequin, cold, still and devoid of emotions. the enigmatic and silent figure appears trapped within a cage-like metallic structure, which at the same time serves as the mold that defines its figure.
METAPHYSICAL ENTITIES
Fabio Novembre pays tribute to the italian avant-gardes of metaphysical art with ‘muse’, his latest collection of luminous sculptures for venini. created in close collaboration with the master craftsmen of the company’s furnaces, based in the venetian island of murano, muse comes in opaline glass of three color variants, grass green, milk white, and red, signaling its italian origins.
04 CASE STUDIES
Totokaelo
More than just marketing buzzwords, authenticity and individuality are holding steady as drivers of consumer spending.
Rejina Pyo
NOVELTY HEELS
Occasion Footwear – S/S 19 Category Update By Ella Hudson, WGSN 2018
For occasion footwear, novelty heels bordering on the avant-garde will be a key trend for premium and fashion-forward markets in 2019. The origins of this trend can be traced back to the launch of the Mildred Egg Heel by cult brand Gray Matters. The Row, Neous and Jacquemus have since championed the aesthetic.
Patrick Almera & Anne Christine Weder
In terms of product, this shift in consumer priorities is sparking demand for unexpected design.
Look to Surrealism to inspire development and be bold with shape and material. Inventive, boundary pushing designs will gain traction into 2019, but for a more commercial buy into the trend, consider familiar, yet often underused styles such as the Louis heel.
METAPHYSICAL ENTITIES
Clo
05 INTERPRETATION
MEGATREND
MICRO TREND
FAD
It also came from a movement which started by Giorgio De Chirico. This movement have influenced a lot of other artists after him such as Magritte and Dali, and also even in the modern world like Fabio Novembre and brands like Driade and Cappellini. Thus, making it both a MICRO TREND and a STYLE.
KEY CHARACTERISTCS Influence of the Past through sculptural and architectural reference. - The use of simple monolithical geometry to stand out within a classical space - Out of scale proportions to create a visual illusion of being unearthly. - An unorthodoxal mix of different entities merge into one. (Real & Unreal / Authentic & Synthetic / Digital & Reality) - Change of atmosphere through texture, color, material, ambiance, lighting or post production to give dramatic and mysterious quality. - Turning objects, characters or images in a dreamlike / surrealist cartoonic figures. -
Patrick Almera & Anne Christine Weder
STYLE
Based on the our research and Case Studies, Metaphysical Entities enters into a realm where Past is its main reference. It dwells from the idea of reinterpreting classical elements and turning them into something surrealistic or dream-like. With the technology and resources we have now it dwells into deeper conceptual phases with limitless possibilities but still staying true to its core elements.
METAPHYSICAL ENTITIES
MACRO TREND
WHAT IS IT ABOUT?
06 INFLUENCERS - PAST / ORIGINAL
artist
artist
Oscar Francescutto
Rene Magritte
Max Ernst
artist
artist
artist
artist
Patrick Almera & Anne Christine Weder
Carlo Carra
Salvador Dali
METAPHYSICAL ENTITIES
Giorgio De Chirico
06 INFLUENCERS - MODERN DAY
design studio
notooSTUDIO srl
SurrealismToday.com
Evan Lawrence
Wang & Soderstrom
online blog
artist
design studio
design studio
Patrick Almera & Anne Christine Weder
designer
six. n. five
METAPHYSICAL ENTITIES
fabio novembre
DIGITAL DISRUPTION
Since behind this trend we have the revival of the metaphysical art movement but its combined with this digital world from there we found the digital disruption as an other driver.
Digital disruption is “an effect that changes the fundamental expectations and behaviors in a culture, market, industry or process that is caused by, or expressed through, digital capabilities, channels or assets.� With those changes the capabilities of showing things in a virtual world increase dramandasly. From there we saw that a lot of companies are using those possiblities to either create a unreal reality or to really increase there potential by demonstrating their projects in a virtual reality.
Driver 2
Driver 3
DRIVERS
Driver 1
NOSTALGIA
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CINEMA & THEATRE
METAPHYSICAL ENTITIES Patrick Almera & Anne Christine Weder
Movies and Theatre influences our soiciety since ever. To put you in a world away from reality and giving you an illusion from your real life. Since the drivers are the motivations which leads to a trend we used the movie inception as an example where you can see the play of surreal and tehcnology to create an unreal world which is proceed real. And in pop cultural we have witnessed the production of some movie and pictures such as inception that have deeply effected our collected imagery and case studies.
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MEGATREND MACRO TREND MICRO TREND STYLE
Metaphysical Surrealism is a category under Surrealism developed by Italian artists in 1910s. The distinction of this style of painting is a dreamlike effect created by sharp contrasts of light and shadow which bring a threatening and mysterious atmosphere to the audience. From the art movement it was then carried on into different field of art and design. It also influenced other art movement style such as Pop Art, Minimalist and Conceptual Art.
Patrick Almera & Anne Christine Weder
FAD
METAPHYSICAL ENTITIES is also considered as a style since it actually came from a previous movement in 1911 which was started by De Chirico which then transcended through different surrealist artist who share the same principles. This movement is called Metaphysical Surrealism
METAPHYSICAL ENTITIES
It can be a very strong potential Micro trend since Metaphysical Entites originally came from the idea of Italian artists Giorgio De Chirico and Carlo Carra which basically comes from the Past. We all know that in the world we are now, Past is powerful and we are in a digital world which gives us more tools and resources to advance it to the present and future.
CONTEXT
METAPHYSICAL ENTITIES is considered to be a Micro Trend. It may potentially come from the idea of the SLOW FUTURES which is Macro Trend that was forecasted by WGSN for Spring/ Summer 2018. It relates to the same idea of remembering the past in order to reimagine the future.
08 CONCLUSION
IS IT GOING TO SPREAD?
Based on our research METAPHYSICAL ENTITIES as a style has the ability to influence other movement. Just like how Metaphysical Surrealism influenced Pop Art, Minimalism, and others. However, as a Micro Trend it will be vibrant in the current season and then will be stagnant for the next few years.
UPWARD OR DOWNWARD?
WILL IT TURN TO SOMETHING ELSE?
We believe that the topic will be very relevant on different aspects but will remain to be in its actual state for quite sometime. It may evolve digitally but only for selected audiences and target market. We mention this as a reference to the original movement which did not move forward due to it’s unusual aesthetic.
METAPHYSICAL ENTITIES
In today’s digital world there is a possibility for it to develop upward because of the surrealism aspect. Since it touches a lot of virtual reality it may transcend to different platform such as commercial, architectural and even fashion. But it will not go as phenomenal as it should be.
Patrick Almera & Anne Christine Weder