Milan 2011: visitors lower objects into pits of molten wax then hang them from the ceiling to solidify in this installation created by students of the HEAD Geneva School of Art and Design at workshops with designer Matali Crasset and curator Alexandra Midal.

Called Dip in Space, the room at Tortona Design Week has a sloping floor to accommodate the vats of wax beneath, with a round wooden structure and pulley system for dipping built round each one.

The environment will change constantly as the week progresses and more parts are coated in red wax.

The installation remains on show until 17 April at Via Tortona 32, Milan. See all our stories about Milan 2011 »

See all our stories about Matali Crasset »

Photographs are by Baptiste Coulon.

Here are some more details from Head – Genève:

Third participation by Head – Genève in the Milan International Furniture Fair : the exhibition Dip in Space, a festive environment celebrating design created by its students in a workshop led by matali crasset and Alexandra Midal is to be found from 12 to 17 April in the heart of the vibrant Zona Tortona. Created during a series of workshops directed by matali crasset in 2010-2011, the exhibition Dip in Space brought together students from the Spaces and communication Masters in Design and the Bachelors courses in Fashion Design and Interior Architecture / Space Design.

Although the design generally presented in Milan is evaluated according to functional criteria, Dip in Space offers a new approach to the means of creating and standardizing space. Left to its cyclothymias, Dip in Space is divided up into two worlds : the first, with glowing red magma set above the platform, represents the mind of the designer in full ferment, while the second invites visitors to experiment, in a fun and convivial way, with the invention and production of forms. They are invited to dip supports into wax-filled containers from which they withdraw objects, each one of them unique. The forms they produce are assembled in situ to constitute a collective work in progress. A quasi-organic space, Dip in Space celebrates the plasticity of matter and the amusing creation of forms.

Throughout the exhibition, walls and objects will gradually blend together to form a single entity in which, from the clothing worn by the representatives to the cocktails served to visitors, the seating places/points and the projected images, everything combines to form a « total art work ». The continually metamorphosing environment illustrates how design is a place for individual, participatory and democratic inventiveness.

A sensorial oasis of relaxation and calm, Dip in Space offers a fun and convivial interlude amid the frenzy of Milan during Design Week. Offbeat and festive, the exhibition encourages us to reconsider the issues of contemporary design by transcending the primacy of function in favour of experience.

Dip in Space: Head – Genève with matali crasset
Torneria 3 – Tortona Locations Via Tortona 32, Milan Exhibition runs from 12 to 17 April 2011, 10.00 – 21.00

See also:

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Double Side by Matali Crasset	Quand Jim se Relaxe by Matali Crasset	Chambre d’Ami by Matali Crasset