A few weeks ago, the MoDiP staff visited the Enzo Mari retrospective, displayed at the Design Museum in London. The exhibition, curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist and Francesca Giacomelli, focuses on the extensive and exploratory career of Enzo Mari with emphasis on his belief of the social responsibility of design and interaction from the user. Throughout his 60-year career, Enzo Mari explored various materials, design elements, and artistic disciplines resulting in a substantial culmination of articles and objects in fields such as art, graphics, and product design. One component remains consistent through Mari’s work, a focus on democratising design, or a belief that design should be at the service of society rather than the designer. As such, much of his designs were created to combat overproduction and excess by being versatile enough to be manipulated and made unique by the user.
We were particularly interested in visiting this exhibit as we have a few of Enzo Mari’s designs in the MoDiP collection, though I believe we were all taken aback by how extensively and intimately Mari explored design. We strongly encourage you to visit the exhibition, if possible, which will be on display through the 8th of September (https://designmuseum.org/exhibitions/enzo-mari). Below are some of our favourite objects on display in the exhibition.
Enzo Mari's 16 Animali and The Fable Game cards. The MoDiP collection contains a polyurethane version of the 16 Animali puzzle (AIBDC : 008551).
A variation of Mari's 16 Animali puzzle, called 16 Pesci, with interlocking fish pieces.
A light installation at the end of the exhibition featuring overlapping animal shapes inspired by Mari's 16 Animali.
Examples of the Ecolo project - a collaboration between Alessi and Enzo Mari focused on transforming used plastic bottles into decorative vases.
Ecolo instruction booklet directing users how to alter their plastic bottles into vases.
The Timor perpetual calendar designed by Enzo Mari in 1967 for manufacturer, Danese Milano. A green version of this calendar is in the MoDiP collection (AIBDC : 008552).
Resin samples
Phenolic resin paperweights designed by Mari while experimenting with materials and the perception of space.
The reversable Pago-Pago vase. The MoDiP collection contains a violet version of this vase (AIBDC : 008550).
Shannon Carr,
MoDiP Collections Officer
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