Actant Visuelle

AV co-curated with Martino Gamper SEASON 3 at SEE••DS

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The exhibition NO ORDINARY LOVE – MARTINO GAMPER W/ FRIENDS brings about collaborative creation dynamics that are capable of highlighting inconsistencies in the "design system". The experiment started from the workshop aimed at fostering a collective-based project, bringing together a group of designers — Tiago Almeida, Faudet Harrison, Lars Frideen, Max Frommeld, Martino Gamper, Gemma Holt, Jochen Holz, Max Lamb, Will Shannon, Silo Studio, Harry Thaler, Bethan Wood — who are already friends, but had never previously worked as a collective. Outspoken and provocative in their own right, yet possibly anonymous, the results of the workshop inhabits the space of SEE• (Special Events Exhibits), thus establishing a subtle and irreverent dialogue with the signed pieces on display in the halls of •DS (Design Store). The sale will be regulated according to three unusual rules which will beat time during the months of the exhibition.

http://seedslondon.com

AV curated SEASON2 at SEE••DS, a new dual space in London.

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In preparation of Season2 at SEE••DS, AV went back to the charming philosophy of Gilles Deleuze who breaks away from the notion of consciousness as a light that illuminates objects otherwise relegated to darkness. "Things shine in themselves without anything to illuminate them" - he stated. Both the exhibition A Certain Afterglow by Pietro Russo, occupying the front space of SEE•, and the design selection displayed in the rooms of •DS (with, among the others, works by Dimitri Bähler, Laureline Galliot, Martino Gamper, Gemma Holt, Lex Pott, Jerszy Seymour, Tijmen Smeulders) echo the intriguing theories of the French philosopher, investigating the many ways in which things can shine.

http://seedslondon.com/main/season-2

AV among the initiators of The Wandering School.

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Together with Jerszy Seymour, Erasmus Scherjon, Stephane Barbier Bouvet and Emanuele Braga, Valentina Ciuffi and Anita Silva activated and coordinated the workings of "The Wandering School". The project was a non-stop performance which ran continuously, between successes and failures, by the students of the Amsterdam "Dirty Art Department" from April 1 to 17, 2016, concurrently with the MiArt and Salone del Mobile events in Milan. The experiment harked back to the most unconventional and radical school experiences and ironically made reference to the Sidney Pollack's masterpiece They shoot horses, Don't they?!. It took place in collaboration with the residing collective at the Macao squatted social centre.

http://wanderingschool.com

AV designed the visual identity and website and is curating the design program of SEE••DS, a new dual space in London.

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SEE••DS (SpecialEventsExhibits••DesignStore) has just opened in Kensington, bringing a project committed to contemporaneity to one of the most picturesque and traditional London districts. SEE••DS moves between design and art, and starting with the interiors reconversion project (curated by Carol Rabolli Pansera), it adopts an innovative and experimental approach. Its two spaces (SEE and DS), distinct but adjoined, present two different ways of showing, experimenting and appropriating exhibited objects and works. The layout of both spaces simultaneously changes each season, three times per year.

http://seedslondon.com/main/season-1

AV co-curated the first exhibition in a gallery of the Belgian collective Rotor.

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Known as the authors of the unforgettable Belgian Pavilion at the 2010 Venice Biennal, as well as for the installation realized with Prada (curated by Germano Celant) in 2011, or for the exhibition on Rem Koolhaas curated at Barbican in 2012, Rotor fall among the passions of AV because of the accuracy of their research that takes them from the most celebrated and glamorous stages, to building sites, to dumping grounds, to the places and ways of the most straightforward trade. Undefined and undefinable, they provocatively looked for a first exhibition in a gallery. AV judged Carwan gallery in Beirut to be the most suitable one.

http://carwangallery.com

AV designed the catalogue The Messengers of Gravity dedicated to Luca Pozzi's work.

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Curated by Gianluigi Ricuperati (and published by the Ettore Fico Museum in Turin), the catalogue includes – among others – essays and interviews by Hans Ulrich Obrist, Ute Meta Bauer and Carlo Rovelli. In an attempt to describe Luca Pozzi’s work, on the border between art and science, the book insists on the importance of superimpositions and intersections. Graphics emphasizes this by choosing a layout where the texts float on artist frames, among gaudy colors and intricate tangled patterns.

http://lucapozzi.com/book

AV designed the visual identity and the website of Paper Factor

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Paper factor is a new material, a micro-paper: an innovative evolution of papier-mâché, scientifically tested and developed in collaboration with the University of Salento.
The company was founded between Lecce and New York. All products are hand-made and finished with techniques usually employed on wood, metal, plastic and stone, processes that previously could not be used on papier-mâché. These allow for the most optimal expression of the unique flexibility and malleability of this innovative material, so that it can be modelled in many 2D or 3D shapes, geometries, patterns, and sizes.

http://paperfactor.com

AV designed the identity and the website of Fattobene, archive and e-commerce dedicated to the archetypes of everyday Italian life. 

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Fattobene, conceived by the journalist Anna Lagorio, gathers small objects that "sum up" the Italy of the last century in graphic signs and timeless ingredients. This site – initially an archive, later an e-commerce – discusses products that have remained exactly the same for decades and the quality of which, aesthetically too, still stands out, despite the price. AV chooses a clean and clear-cut sign which turns out as a further mark on the selected objects and guides the visitor in an assisted web exploration, inviting them to linger on images and texts.

http://fatto-bene.com

AV co-curated and designed the new online showcase for the Bar Basso website.

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After launching the new website of the historic Bar Basso last April, AV periodically implements it with virtual exhibits involving the "characters" hanging out at the bar and activating its precious archive. In November 2015 AV inaugurates a new narrative experiment around the Basso's drinks, with photos by Delfino Sisto Legnani and words by a team of unexpected and eminent writers.

http://barbasso.com/thedrinkers

AV designed the website and is fostering (and will foster) the spread of the work of Atelier dell’Errore – a workshop of visual arts for Child Neuropsychiatry.

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Atelier dell’Errore is a social “sculpture” by the artist Luca Santiago Mora, who, together with the boys of the Reggio Emilia Child Neuropsychiatry (and subsequently at the Bergamo centre) gave life to the marvellously unusual bestiary - arrived at the Quodlibet covers just as at the TedX stage; presented in many exhibitions and awarded by the Vienna actionist Arnulf Rainer with the prestigious European prize. EWARD6 – now ready for new stages and unexpected evolutions, in Italy and abroad.

http://atelierdellerrore.org

AV re-designed the visual identity and the website of the Studio Frassinago

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Studio Frassinago, founded in Bologna in 2006, designs gardens and landscapes shaping natural spaces, for intense living experiences all year round.
Frassinago combines the most varied range of skills – from botany to design, passing through agronomy and architecture – moving in line with a set of strong principles affording great value to its projects with an experimental and evolutionary spirit, in Italy and abroad.
The re-styling by AV started from the fruit/seed of the Samara. This seed belongs to the tree of Frassino which has a central role in Studio Frassinago imaginary.

http://frassinago.com

AV designed the new Albeli site, redefining its identity.

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Albeli is an articulated project revolving around the idea of a trip to the South of Italy, experienced in a new way. The project creator, the Norwegian architect Kristine Standnes, also deals with art and handicraft and promotes the possibility of unconventional explorations of Campania and Puglia. In fact, three of her charming properties are situated in these regions: they are available for rental, and also house artist residencies, performance art events, and intensive activities tied to sustainable agriculture and farming.

http://albeli.it

AV co-organised Kids Design Week and curated its communication.

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KDW is the first design week held during the Milan Salone del Mobile entirely dedicated to the world of childhood. "Built" by seeking a fruitful hybrid between an adult's and a child's gaze, this exhibition has both cultural and commercial goals. AV curated some parts more closely, not least by defining the identity of the show and structuring its communication elements. The signage system sprung up from a collective design operation that AV developed to enhance the level of interaction during the event. KDW originates from a collaboration of the Milan Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci with Uovokids and Actant Visuelle.

http://kidsdesignweek.it

AV designed the personal website of Nicolas Bellavance Lecompte. 

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While the target is rendering the effective image of a multifaceted and eclectic personality, AV draws a dynamic and interactive CV narrating Lecompte's main projects by bullets: short paragraphs of text and a few focused images combining in an original way to invite the visitor to explore the net looking for more clues on the “protagonist” of the site.

http://nb-lecompte.com

AV reshaped the website and elaborated on the identity of Carwan – the first gallery of contemporary design in the Middle East. 

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The Carwan Gallery inaugurated in Beirut 5 years ago, and now, after a rapid growth and on the eve of opening a new location in Dubai, is looking to evolve its image. AV answers by refreshing the language of the site as well as the logo and on the statements about the project – highlighting the Middle East success of Carwan, emphasizing the catalogue of the objects and underlining the International exhibitions that characterized and strengthened the Carwan itinerary.

http://carwangallery.com

AV co-curated (with the NGO Liveinslum) the project Bolle – collection of furniture for jail cells – and designed its visual identity.

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With the aim of minimising the (actual and symbolic) boundaries of the detention spaces, Bolle creates a line of furniture conceived for and produced within the Bollate jail. The furniture is drawn by designers such as Cini Boeri, Riccardo Dalisi, Riccardo Blumer, Martino Gamper, rotor, Giorgia Zanellato/ Daniele Bortotto in collaboration with the prisoners and will be commercialized both inside and outside jails, thus shortening the gap between two worlds.

AV created the identity and designed the website of A-trio – an agency organising events linked to design to support philanthropic initiatives.

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AV draws A-trio starting from its name, meeting the suggestions of the customer, who seeks a first, atypical web showcase for his new project. The customer's is invited to take on an amusingly ironic attitude, leading to an ornately bling work of art, which while rotating becomes a shade redundant “bookmark” accompanying the flow of the A-trio presentation subjects.

http://a-trio.org

AV designed the new website of Bar Basso in Milan.

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Bar Basso is one of Milan's historical bars, a landmark. Unique in style, true to itself, it is a regular hangout for designers, artists and architects. Even though it "ritually" bursts with people during the Salone del Mobile, on more routine days it is full of curious and interesting regulars who have been contributing to its charm since forever. Bar Basso has a "miracle" archive that Actant Visuelle, with Maurizio Stocchetto, the owner of the bar, have decided to go through putting together narrative features which come out periodically in new webpages implementing the intentionally minimal site.

http://barbasso.com

AV curated and "displayed" the online exhibition 1 COCKTAIL for the new Bar Basso website.

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Bar Basso is one of Milan's historical bars, a landmark. Unique in style, true to itself, it is a local hangout for designers, artists and architects.
Bar Basso has a "miracle" archive that AV, with Maurizio Stocchetto, the owner of the bar, have decided to go through putting together narrative features which come out periodically in new web pages implementing the intentionally minimal site.
1 COCKTAIL, the first in the series, is a collection of signed and specially commissioned tokens for BAR BASSO.

http://barbasso.com/1cocktail

AV designed the proposal for the identity and the site of Sexion Privée, first line of female audio sex toys. 

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Sexion Privée is an original experiment conceived to put audio instruments preparatory to female masturbation online. In graphically dressing an unusual and thorny project, AV chooses a sign as simple and elegant as possible, revolving around a unique control – Play – and its minimal geometries: an invitation to listening, but also an unrestrained and amused exploration of one's sexuality, beyond taboo.

AV invented and curated the first edition of ME FEST – Medical Entertainment

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Commissioned by Centro Medico Santagostino in Milan, AV developed the first edition of an unprecedented festival dealing with health and care, by using performance as a means of expression and participation. Held on Sept.26th this year, it took place at its seat in Panfilo Castaldi street, as well as at the Cozzi swimming pool and at the Oberdan cinema, also involving restaurants and shops along the street. AV also curated the image and communication.