10 Apr 2011

METETEORITE book by Gabriele Pezzini

The Necessity of Developing Theories
by Gabriele Pezzini

We can define a 'Theory' as the formalisation of thoughts about a series of consequential events, observed or executed, sometimes related to acts where the body participates in the practice.
A theory can represent a base, on which the structure of a thought or path can be built. Metaphorically, this thought or path can be represented by the construction of a step allowing us to go one step higher. This is the basis of the process of intellectual evolution. From our earliest childhood, practical acts are linked to thought, and thought to practical acts as concrete verification. From the very beginning, we can evoke deductive thinking. This continues throughout our entire life with an increasingly complex process also capable of including abstraction.

In product design, where experience is always related to concrete materials and concrete objects, we can maintain prospective thoughts with meta-projects, which means projects whose sole function is to represent thought in its ideas and abstraction, without actually being real products and, fortunately, without needing to be real products. I say fortunately because, if not, it would be difficult to have a free thought. Meta-projects, although essential, are very different from projects of a more concrete nature since some necessary components of a project or process, whether artisanal or industrial, are not present. As a result, in design, theorisation becomes a fundamental process of evolution, the 'do and think' of which converge to create a bridge. Theorisation is a two-track entity, a reflection that is both a starting point for a new project process or the analysis of an ongoing process, or even a direct experience based on meta-projects or real projects. These two tracks between doing and thinking are essential for concrete thought, and therefore for the definition of archetypal products.

Meteorite is my most recent reflection, and undeniably the most abstract, after The future of manufacturing, Supported and others, which define a course of analysis and various looks at design. There is no real certainty, yet an intuition about the future of things, a necessary look at my work to try to bring me ever closer to the essence, the meaning that objects can ultimately represent beyond their function. The visual communication of a possible thought.
Meteorite was pushed further than my other lines of thinking, looking for the essence of the project's potential process, without using objects or everyday functions as a base, as their reading can always refer back to pre-established codes. The abstraction that went into Meteorite allowed more space for feeling, an important part of any project, like games for children.
The idea of the Meteorite took a long time. The first one, made in 2003, was the result of my being close to the beach, and therefore the sand, and that continuous gaze between the sand and water coming into contact. The reproduction and shaping of this reflection was also very slow. It took until now, 2010, and went through many crucial steps, which substantiated this thought and pushed toward the closure of the Meteorite story. Time, therefore, is an integral part of this project, which deals precisely with time. It was the catalyst, the undefined invisible material that allows for all things interesting to be fully developed and fine-tuned, and makes the rest vanish. Time, what we need to take more of, in order to think and produce.

Looking far, watching closely METEORITE
a reflection by Gabriele Pezzini
ARCHIBOOKS publisher Paris 2010