Milan 2012: weary fair-goers in Milan can relax and recharge at an installation by Studio Toogood at MOST this week, guided through a healing performance by mysterious helpers dressed in white.
Participants in La Cura are seated on a circle of bandaged chairs round a central pavilion where figures in white tend a garden of clay sculptures.
They are offered an elixir created by food designers Arabeschi di latte, before being presented with an enamel dish and ball of clay to mould.
The 'caretakers' collect each clay sculpture in turn and commit them to the central pavilion where they become part of a collaborative sculpture that grows as the week progresses.
Performances run every hour and last half an hour.
See sketches for the project in our earlier story.
MOST takes place in Milan's Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della Tecnologia from 17 to 22 April. Download the free map and guide here and see all our stories about MOST here.
See all our stories about Studio Toogood here.
The details below are from Studio Toogood:
A PROJECT BY STUDIO TOOGOOD WITH NIVEA
‘la cura’ is a visual antidote to the chaos of the Salone del Mobile, a hospital for the senses where visitors are invited to rebalance through a series of intimate performances.
Whilst experiencing a therapeutic sound and light composition produced in collaboration with Kite & Laslett, visitors are presented with a ball of white clay to mould and shape into something that reflects their own individual expression and mood. These artworks — called ‘The Cures’ — are collected at the end of each performance and clustered together in the ‘Pavilion’ during the course of the week to create a collective sculpture.
For ‘la cura’, the Underkitchen by food designers Arabeschi di Latte have prepared a re-energising elixir designed to restore people’s sparkle and spirit. The air is filled with a bespoke scent by perfumers 12.29, which is designed to capture the essence of the colour white in olfactory form. During the installation, ‘Caretakers’, dressed in outfits designed by Faye Toogood, attend to, maintain and safeguard ‘The Cures’. Guests are seated on ‘Spade’ chairs by Faye Toogood, each one bandaged and covered for protection.
STUDIO TOOGOOD
Studio Toogood designs, directs and executes interiors and environments from concept through to creation. Offering a full creative direction and interior design service, the Studio’s projects range from the two-dimensional page to the three-dimensional space, and from the real to the conceptual.
Under the creative direction of London-based designer, Faye Toogood, the Studio collaborates with clients who seek alternative ways of developing their brand or their interior. Its distinctive approach disregards convention in favour of something altogether more brave, joyous and impulsive. The members of the Studio are able to draw on a wide range of talents and diverse backgrounds, including fine art, history of art, architecture and interior design.
Even without the logo, this purist blue tin has a sensational recognition value — and the NIVEA lettering is the white ‘icing on the cake’ of the blue tin. The font (NIVEA bold) was designed exclusively for NIVEA. The logo is so unique that it is recognised by most consumers even when most of the word is covered up.
‘la cura’ FEATURES FRIENDS: UNDERKITCHEN BY ARABESCHI DI LATTE
The elixir for ‘la cura’ is the third of the “Underkitchen Series” by Arabeschi di latte, a collection of five short stories exploring the mysterious and magical side of food. Underkitchen, the brainchild of Francesca Sarti — founder of the food design collective Arabeschi di Latte — is a project set up to reveal the hidden, subtle and abstract nature behind food and hospitality.Telling unexpected stories using powerful combinations of ingredients and compositions, the project not only wishes to blur the boundaries between food and design, but to create an open platform for food-related collaborations.
Arabeschi di Latte is an Italian food design collective which has created and exhibited a variety of food- related projects such us pop-up cafés, eating events and workshops.
Central to the choreography of ‘la cura’, in collaboration with Studio Toogood Kite & Laslett have produced an octaphonic sound and light composition that intensifies the therapeutic atmosphere of the performance and playful participative interaction.
Sound; consisting of generated and natural material, radiates from the central pavilion via independent loudspeakers creating a complex and ever-evolving polyphony enveloping the audience.
The Conte Biancamano’ cylindrical-shaped volume acts as a reverberant chamber, reflecting, focusing and blending the amplified sounds to create a sonic cocoon. The glowing core of light peaks contrapuntally in response to spatialised acoustical reflections, coalescing towards the sensation of a parallel time-scape.
The duo; Sebastian Kite and Will Laslett, trained in architecture, sound and music, specialise in producing architectural interventions in the form of interactive installations. Their cross-disciplinary projects fuse sound, light, film, performance and sculptural elements to construct immersive experiential environments that challenge human perceptions of space.
Elementary to Kite & Laslett is the conception of engaging with architecture, creating interventions through rigorous experimentation and exploration into psycho- acoustics and kinaesthetics.
“For ‘la cura’, we wanted to create a scent that was like the first breathe of spring, your mother’s arms, your lover’s neck, clean crisp linens in a fresh bed ... the comfort of peace with the purity of youth” explain founders Dawn and Samantha Goldworm.
12.29 designs custom scents for retail/corporate environments, hospitality venues, special events, and private homes to create unique “scent identities” exclusively for brands.
Dawn Goldworm is one of two “noses” for Coty Beauty world-wide, the largest fine fragrance manufacturer. Dawn collaborates with master perfumers to design global fragrances for celebrity, lifestyle and fashion brands including Pierre Cardin, D&V Beckham, Kate Moss, Kylie Minogue, Heidi Klum, Adidas, Playboy
and Lady Gaga.
Samantha Goldworm leads consumer marketplace insights research to aid in creation and sustainability of Fortune 500 companies most profitable brands.
Samantha captures the voice of the consumer, listening and understanding consumer perception of brand identity and equity over time to enhance brand image and return on investment. Recent projects include Lancôme and American Express.
‘THE CURES’
Visitors are presented with a ball of white clay to mould and shape into something that reflects their own individual expression and mood.
‘la cura SPACE SKETCH 2’
‘la cura’ is a visual antidote to the chaos of the Salone del Mobile, a hospital for the senses where visitors are invited to rebalance through a series of intimate performances.
‘la cura PAVILION SKETCH’
‘The Cures’ are collected at the end of each performance and clustered together in the ‘Pavilion’ during the course of the week to create a collective sculpture.
‘SPADE CHAIR’ BY FAYE TOOGOOD
‘la cura’ features 40 Spade Chairs, each one protected using dressings made from felt, tyvek, canvas, sheepskin, feathers, latex, gauze and bandages.
Performances are free but cannot be pre-booked.
Monday Press Day 3.00pm – 7.00 pm
Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday 10.30am – 7.30pm
Wednesday & Sunday 10.30am – 4.30pm
MOST
National Museum of Science and Technology,
Via Olona 6, 20123 Milan, Italy
Entrance through Via Olona 6
Dates: Tuesday 17 April, 10AM – 9PM Wednesday 18 April, 10AM – 6PM
Thursday 19 – Saturday 21 April, 10AM – 9PM Sunday 22 April, 10AM – 6PM
Press Preview: Monday 16 April, 3PM-7PM