Historically, when Sicily’s lively volcanoes Etna and Stromboli erupted, craftsmen would channel off the flowing lava and mould it into pieces of furniture and sculpture. Now the tradition has somewhat fallen by the wayside, with the volcanic rock largely used for generic tourists trinkets, rather than inspiring works of art. When Etna erupted again in November last year, Eindhoven-based Italian designers Studio Formafantasma sought to change this state of affairs.
Drawing on their masters thesis about traditional Sicilian folk craft penned while still students at Design Academy Eindhoven, Studio Formafantasma began a lengthy research project into just what they could create by melting, casting, carving, blowing, milling and even weaving the emerging lava. The result is De Natura Fossilium, a geometric collection of stools, tables and a clock produced in collaboration with Gallery Libby Sellers and shown as part of last week’s furniture fair in Milan. Each piece was created from hewn and manipulated volcanic basalt, hand-blown glass (formed by melting down rocks from Mount Etna) and lava sand collected from Stromboli. “Mount Etna is a mine without miners,” say the duo. “It is excavating itself to expose its raw materials.”
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Big Pillar, 2014
Basalt, Occhio di pernice basalt, brass, textile
35 W x 35 D x 90 H cm
Valle del Bove, 2014
Mouth blown Lava, Lava rock, Murano glass
35 x 25 x 35 H cm
1991 Stool, 2014
Occhio di pernice Basalt, Textile, Brass
30 x 30 x 60 H cm
Edition of 7 plus 1 Prototype, 2 AP
Salina, 2014
Mouth blown Lava, Lava rock, textile, Murano Glass
Vase: 20 x 20 x 30 cms
Pallet: 15 x 10 x 3 cms
Efesto, 2014
Basalt Fibre, Cotton
190 L x 120 W cms
Edition of 7 plus 1 Prototype, 2AP
Monti Silvestri, 2014
Basalt, brass, electric component, lava sand
Each piece: 35 x 5 cm
Edition of 3 plus 1 Prototype, 2 AP
De Natura Fossilium by Formafantasma, 2014
All works courtesy Gallery Libby Sellers, London
All images by Luisa Zanzani.
Prices on application
