Alessi Centrepiece Red Metal. Dimensions: Ø 33 cm. Notice to collectors,
design fans and everyone who’d like to rediscover the essential figures of
Italian design! The iconic Italian brand Alessi is celebrating its 100th
anniversary with the “Alessi 100 Values Collection”: this collection
celebrates the values that define the identity and practice of the Dream Factory
(Fabbrica dei Sogni). A collection of surprising objects, from the Alessi
Museum's Archive Fund, which includes projects that have never been produced
before, brand-new versions of cult objects as well as icons in the making.
Twelve projects, each referring to a different value, will be presented over
twelve months, from May 2021 to April 2022. Alessi 100 Values Collection
celebrates 100 years of applied arts research and the start of a new century of
experimentation. The fourth of the Alessi values to be promoted is Beyond: or
the desire to always go further. Not in a wanton gesture, simply to offer
something different, but with the ambition to change our ways of working, our
world of objects, and so avoid stagnating in the comfort of excessive routine.
The Beyond value is represented by a new edition of the Cohncave centrepiece
created in 1992 by Australian goldsmith Susan Cohn during a design workshop
organised by Centro Studi Alessi (CSA). Susan Cohn’s creations can be found
in leading design and contemporary art museums, including the Victoria &
Albert Museum in London, the Shanghai Museum and the National Gallery of
Australia. A meeting between art and design, this simple, minimalist looking
centrepiece actually hides an extremely sophisticated design. Susan Cohn was
inspired by the wire mesh cabinets in which food was once stored, and came up
with an ingenious concept that plays on the moiré effect resulting from the
passage of light between two superimposed mesh surfaces. Cohncave's clean,
elementary volume is formed by the superposition of two steel meshes of
different colours, creating an optical effect that’s both seductive and
unexpected. Cohncave is an everyday object imbued with mystery, which captivates
the eye through its permanent interaction with light. Breaking free from the
narrow constraints of industrial production, Cohncave transcends its
functionality to assume the status of a work of art. In this new version,
Cohncave is dressed in two original chromatic variations, available in different
formats. Cohncave is an object dedicated to all those who have a lasting spirit,
who are curious, creative, passionate, in tune with the world and able to always
force themselves to go further, like Susan Cohn, who surprises us once again
with creations that have the gift of resonating with the times. Susan Cohn:
“The Cohncave basket is one of those creations that not only marks a turning
point in your practice, but also continues to nourish your thinking. ‘’
