DAMN 2020 - 2021
A PROJECT BY
Accademia di Belle Arti di Verona
CURATED BY
Sotirios Papadopoulos con
Katia Gasparini, Lorenzo Palmeri, Francesca Piccolino Boniforti
IN COLLABORATION WITH
Istituto Salesiano San Zeno Settore marmo, Italia
Arab American University, Palestina
PROJECT COORDINATION
Marta Ferretti
SPONSOR
Desamanera srl, Grassi 1880
PARTICIPANTS
Alaa Abdalhameed, Lynn Awad, Marco Chemello, Anela Celebic, Lorenzo Faccioli, Lorenzo Favaron, Francesco Gibertoni, Francesco Lasala, Francesco Marchioro, Maha Mansour, Amna Nammora, Homa Rahimian, Mohammad Sarraj, Arnaldo Sela, Arianna Tait, Elisa Trettene, Rawand Waleed Abu Hilal, Rayyan Zahdeh, Giulia Zampieri
April 2020 - December 2021
Verona
DAMN is an international research project that aims to investigate a sustainable relationship with the natural resources of stone through the lens of design, sculpture, science and technology.
Each year the project focuses on a different theme through lectures, new productions and an intensive workshop, inviting students, scholars and companies to envision alternative scenarios, question desires and address challenges for the future of marble resources.
At a time of growing ecological, economic and political crisis on a global scale, DAMN focuses on marble, one of the main resources of the Verona area, the subject of social, scientific, artistic, political, environmental and economic investments on a local and international level, to contribute in a responsible way to the wider debate on a sustainable future.
To address and create new ways of designing, DAMN is based on an innovative approach: on the one hand, it takes the materiality of stone as a starting point for design and analyzes artistic languages, technological processes and potential new design applications with which to transform and expand the possibilities of marble.
On the other, it investigates the local through dialogue with key actors in the territory and a constant interchange with the transnational community thanks to the networks that the Academy of Fine Arts of Verona is developing with both individuals and institutions on an international level.
The project was born in 2018 on the occasion of the participation of the Academy of Fine Arts of Verona in the Young Stone Project exhibition curated by Raffaello Galiotto and Vincenzo Pavan as part of Marmomac, the Verona Stone Design and Technology Fair.
In its three editions, the project has expanded to involve more than 40 students, create 8 new productions and organize a series of conferences and seminars with curators, designers, architects and internationally renowned professionals including Edoardo Bonaspetti, Raffaello Galiotto, Mikayel Ohanjanyan, in synergy with a solid network of Italian and international partners including the Arab American University of Palestine, Asmave, Desamanera, Donatoni Macchine, the Order of Architects and Order of Engineers of Verona, the Scuola del Marmo of Sant'Ambrogio, Verona Stone District.
THE 2020 - 2021 EDITION
The theme of this edition is stone as a privileged witness of the Anthropocene, our geological epoch characterized by radical changes in the earth's environment due to the local and global scale effects of human action.
What design strategies make it possible to frame marble as a critical resource, a space for cultural, environmental and political interests and potential new human relationships? And which production processes ensure its survival in physical terms but also in terms of impact on the politics of extraction and defense of the local territory?
International Design Workshop
18- 29 May 2020 online
for Academy and AUUP students
Beginning with a series of theoretical reflections, the workshop "Il Tempo nella Pietra" ("Time in Stone") investigated how the great changes we are experiencing in our time affect the authenticity, appearance and rediscovery of stone, transforming its concept from defenseless and static matter to an entity in continuous evolution in time and space.
Through the comparative application of subtractive technologies with the use of computer controlled machines and new additive technologies that use the powder of natural stone without the addition of artificial additives, different and innovative production processes have been experimented with that allow the use of a small quantity of resources from the cycles of large-scale industry to create new products that are sustainably adapted to both the Veronese and Palestinian contexts.
Awards and new productions
Thanks to the valuable contribution of Desamanera, a company active in the field of additive technology and research applied to stone materials, at the end of the workshop two new prototypes were created by the students of the Academy under the guidance of the company's professionals.
Arcadia by Francesco Lasala and Lorenzo Favaron in collaboration with Alaa Abdalhameed, winner of the DAMN Workshop, selected by an international commission composed of professionals from the world of design, architecture and education.
Metamorphosis by Francesco Marchioro, Mohammed Sarraj and Giulia Zampieri, winner of the Desamanera Award selected by the sponsoring company.
Thanks to the valuable contribution of the Scuola del Marmo, engaged in the professional training of stone-working specialists, in 2021 a version of Arcadia made with subtractive technologies will also be produced by the students of the Scuola.
Photos: Sandro Capitanio
Conferences and tours
Throughout 2021, Arcadia and Metamorphosis, produced thanks to the support of Desamanera, will be on tour, visiting the most important trade fairs and events dedicated to stone and design, including the Salone del Mobile in Milan and Marmomac in Verona.
Marmomac 2021 will also see the presentation of Arcadia, created in collaboration with the Scuola del Marmo.
Each stage will be an opportunity for discussion and debate with guests invited to reflect together with students on new design methods and the most innovative production technologies, as well as an opportunity to present the works created before an international audience.
At the end of the tour, the two prototypes made with additive technologies will be donated to the Arab American University of Palestine, with which the Academy has been collaborating since 2018, for the permanent exhibition of the works at the campuses of Ramallah and Jenin.
We would like to thank
Stefano Bonafini, Antonino Italiano, Dario Marconi, Mirko Penna, Maria Paola Tartaglia, Renad Shqeirat.
Graphic project: Riccardo Fedrigo