RILIEVI

Rilievi: note sulla collezione | Rilievi: notes on the collection

RILIEVI

MARIA CRISTINA DIDERO

Indipendent curator

This project simply embodies perfection - a term which certainly

sets the bar high in a description of a new product for launch on

the market. But when an enlightened manufacturer is capable of

encapsulating a designer’s personal research in a product to be added

to its range, the outcome is a “perfect synthesis”. A perfect synthesis

between untrammelled creativity and market trends. CEDIT had the

insight needed to perceive, identify and rework the immense potential

of Practice Practice Practice - a self-produced project by Zaven (Enrica

Cavarzan and Marco Zavagno - and realised that its sophisticated design,

originated by pure, pristine input (unadulterated by external factors

except the noblest of them all, research) could provide the basis for an

innovative, successful collection. I might add, a collection unique of its

kind. Zaven is also a name that comes with guarantees; the two partners

are good at what they do. Their work always starts from personal

curiosity and investigations, the study of other stories (as in this case

inspiration was drawn from the output of artist and activist Nino Caruso)

and individual interests, which are broken down, developed, optimised

and prepared for transformation into something fresh. Enrica Cavarzan

and Marco Zavagno have a masterly ability to transform their own wishes

and passions into design work of the greatest breadth and, as we see

here, the widest, richest application. Their use of ceramics as a material

is clearly outstanding and reflects a method precisely founded on the

desire to look at things from an unusual viewpoint, under a different light.

And to be daring.

Zaven have an unconventional approach to convention. In the

specific case of the Rilievi collection, the “modules” created for CEDIT

seem to explode off the walls; in fact, they are constructed by combining

the two-dimensional slab with its three-dimensional decor. Rilievi seems

to be seeking space. More space. Even though these modules have

actually established a dialogue with the wall from which they are born.

At the same time, they hypnotise us with their tight sequence of lines,

the pattern that is always different although its root is the same, and the

intriguing, unusual colours that add another vital factor to the finished

product. Their firm grounding in graphic design (and here we have come

back to two-dimensional effects, of the kind most often associated with

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