‘LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS’, THE SYNTHESIS OF TIME, LIGHT AND THE DEPTHS OF THE SEA EXPRESSED THROUGH DESIGN FEATURING ‘CANDELA ’: THE HYPNOTIC INSTALLATION ILLUMINATING LA TRIENNALE DI MILANO Milan, 17 April 2018 – At the 57th edition of the Milan Design Week, Officine Panerai is exhibiting for the first time in Italy, Candela, the work created by three multi-disciplined British talents working together: the designer Felix de Pass, the graphic designer Michael Montgomery and the ceramicist Ian McIntyre. Previously presented at the world-famous Victoria & Albert Museum on the occasion of the London Design Festival, Candela is being exhibited from 17 to 22 April at la Triennale di Milano within ‘Light in the Darkness’, the installation which offers a new view of the concept of time and light, summarising all 01
the values intrinsic to Panerai: design as both a vocation and as an element of research and innovation, time and its continuous flow, and the luminescence which has been a feature Panerai watches since the beginning, responding to the demands of the commandos of the Royal Italian Navy. It is an immersion into the darkest depths which articulates the imaginary journey towards the shimmering of Candela, the name is that of scientific unit measuring luminous intensity. The installation consists of a slowly rotating circular framework suspended above the gallery floor. With the passage of time, the disc passes through a concentrated discharge of light which causes it to emit a glow which fades little by little, until it disappears altogether. All this is possible through the marriage of analogue and digital technologies using materia ls with light-creating properties. Forming part of the installation are Submersible watches with their uniquely distinctive technical characteristics and design. Solid, strong and with unequalled visibility even at great depths, every Panerai diver’s watch is inspired by the past of a brand whose roots are in the world of the sea while it also looks to the future, with excellent new technical solutions and remarkable innovations. Examples are the Luminor Submersible 1950 CarbotechTM 3 Days Automatic with its case made of carbotech, a composite material based on carbon fibre, and the Luminor Submersible 1950 Amagnetic 3 Days Automatic Titanio whose innovative case prevents magnetic fields reaching the interior of the watch. In the field of high quality watchmaking, Panerai timepieces stand out for the undisputed incisiveness of their design. Designed in the 1930s and 1940s as military diver’s watches, they are incredibly solid and robust, and every detail is perfectly formed to carry out the task for which it was designed. The functionality and pure lines which distinguish Panerai models have enabled the House to establish its watches as icons of inter national high quality watchmaking. As a tribute to this tradition of excellence, Panerai has for many years sponsored a series of initiatives aimed at promoting the culture of design. In this way many international collaborative projects have come into being, such as the partnership with the Triennale Design Museum in Milan on the occasion of the exhibition “O’Clock”, the retail concept of the Panerai boutiques created by Patricia Urquiola, and the sponsorship of initiatives such as Design Miami (US), the London Design Festival and the prestigious Wallpaper Design Award (United Kingdom). This is a commitment which is growing year by year, confirming the part played by Panerai in the world of international design. To reinforce its longstanding relationship with the world of design, Panerai has donated the the work Candela to the Triennale which will thus become part of its permanent exhibition. 02
OFFICINE PANERAI Founded in 1860 in Florence when it consisted of a boutique, a workshop and a watchmaking school, Officine Panerai was for years the supplier of precision instruments to the Italian Navy, in particular equipping the commando frogmen. The projects which were created at that time – including the Luminor and Radiomir watches – continued to be covered by military secrecy for many years, until the purchase of the brand by the Richemont Group in 1997 and the brand’s subsequent launch on the international market. Today, Officine Panerai develops and produces its own movements and watches, combining Italian design and history with Swiss craftsmanship, in its manufacture at Neuchâtel. The finished products are sold worldwide through an exclusive global network of authorised dealers, and in its ownbrand bouti ques throughout the world. www.panerai.com FELIX DE PASS After graduating from the Royal College of Art, Felix de Pass has worked with a range of organisations, from design manufacturers and architects, to cultural institutions, growing businesses and global brands. His approach focuses on understanding the tradition of designing physical objects, and how this discipline can be applied at differ ent scales, contexts and environments. Felix’s recent projects include product ranges for design manufacturers VG&P, Crane Cookware and Established and Sons, retail interior for audio brand Spiritland and a stool range in collaboration with architect Alison Brooks. In 2015 Felix joined graphic designer Michael Montgomery to found their studio de Pass Montgomery (dPM). MICHAEL MONTGOMERY A cross-disciplinary designer, Michael Montgomery specialises in both graphic and threedimensional design for exhibitions, way-finding and spatial iden tities. As Senior Designer for celebrated design agency Graphic Thought Facility from 2006 to 2014. He was responsible for projects in various fields, including exhibitions at the Science Museum, Design Museum, and V&A, environmental design projects for VitraHaus, and creative direction for Herman Miller. With Felix de Pass, he founded the studio dPM in 2015. IAN MCINTYRE With a background in product design and applied art, Ian McIntyre employs a mixture of industrial design and craft skills within his work to produce exhibitions, installations and designs for production. Since graduating from his MA in Ceramics and Glass at the Royal College of Art in 2010 he has collaborated with a wide range of design manufacturers and cultural institutions including Vitsoe, Jerwood Visual Arts and The Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design. Ian is a Founding member of Studio Manifold based in East London. He currently holds a Collaborative Doctoral Award with Manchester School of Art, York Art Gallery and The British Ceramics Biennial.
OFFICINE PANERAI CELEBRATES ITS PASSION FOR THE SEA AND FOR INNOVATION
