in poikilos, objects of common interest solidifies lustrous resin into reflective milky furniture

the exhibited furniture alludes to the tensile properties of liquified resin as it can be melted and remodeled again.

matthew burgos April 14, 2023 5 min

objects of common interest solidifies resin in ‘poikilos’

Objects of Common Interest imagines liquified iridescent resin as solid sets of glossy furniture, on display at a Studio Vedèt-curated show titled POIKILOS in Nilufar Depot for Milan Design Week 2023 from April 17th to 23rd, 2023. The crystalline liquid of resin is poured into molds, and once it hardens, natural materials such as iron, marble, or wood reidentify its versatile being. Through this technique, Objects of Common Interest can melt the furniture back to their original liquid state and transfigure these pieces into new forms of being, maintaining the diaphanous reflection and materiality of the objects.

Valentina Ciuffi of Studio Vedèt describes the exhibition as a transitioning phase of forms, from liquid to solid. ‘Seats, tables, lamps, vases whose materiality is accentuated by the skillful use of lines and geometries, juxtapositions and combinations of solids, dialogue between curves and sharp angles,’ she says. ‘Iridescence is not on the surface, but suspended, a magma that pulses differently from within all these things, and changes, continuously. Almost another version of those wild, mottled cloaks of ancient Greece, a contemporary form of Poikolos.’

poikilos objects of common interest studio vedèt — images courtesy of Objects of Common Interest | photos by Ana Santl and Mia Dorier

Veering from the traditional processing

In Ancient Greece, Poikilos alluded to the mottled fur of a running leopard or the iridescent skin of a snake. It hints at the life of movement, the constant flow of the physical while embodying the abstract and play on light. The translucent body catches and locks in colors surrounding it until these subtle hues and its vessel become one.

The exhibition, curated by Studio Vedèt, inhabits the giant atrium of Nilufar Depot and bears, in its own way, Greek origins as the show arises out of the continuous and fruitful movements of the Objects of Common Interest designers, Eleni Petaloti and Leonidas Trampoukis.

POIKILOS veers from the traditional processing of cutting and shaping blocks using human-controlled machines. The set of furniture in the show exhibits the patient craftsmanship of making everything out of something, regardless of its native form. Objects of Common Interest takes a step further as the duo softens the visuals of their creations by guaranteeing optical play. As the light shines upon them, the glassy furniture mirrors what it sees around it, leaving wistful traces of finespun magic in the bodies of functional objects.

Passing on the wealth of knowledge

In her earlier days working in the art world, Petaloti met a Romanian man named Ovidiu Colea. He owned a workshop on Long Island dedicated to producing and experimenting with resin. Tucked in his passion space alongside his wife Adriana, Colea tinkered with resin as if he were a scientist with an artist’s hands, concocting secret resin recipes to further the pieces he created.

‘In 2019, Colea was ready to retire and did not know to whom to leave all his wealth of knowledge and unknown and miraculous machinery and recipes. When Eleni and Leo bravely accepted the baton and decided to transport them to a large space in the Piraeus industrial zone of Athens, all the knowledge of this man was reactivated in their own Hellenic factory,’ says Ciuffi.

Today, Colea’s wealth of knowledge unravels in Milan as pieces of revelry woven though with musings on the tensility of resin and its myriad of untapped aptitudes. Objects of Common Interest along with Studio Vèdet imagine resin as a potion of opalescence, and Ciuffi adds that iridescence is among the most elusive visual phenomena.

‘It seems to exist only at the moment we are seeing it and is different for each of us depending on our location, the light around us, the gaze, the time of day, and perhaps even our mood. It has the charm of dazzling and unexpected things, that vibrate and cannot stand still,’ she says.