ALCOVA

ALCOVA POPOLI - MILAN DESIGN WEEK 2019

INVERTERE - is a site-specific, limited-edition lighting installation for Alcova that will be presented during Milan Design Week. Sitting midway between a lighting sculpture and a design-art object, the gestalt configuration will be an undulating cluster of Mila pendants combined to create a randomized, multi-layered composition.

Installation by Matthew McCormick

Invertere comprises 19 oblong forms finished in brushed sterling silver, featuring the newest iterations of his notable Mila fixture in four varied sizes and diameters. Suspended from the ceiling by a series of thin cables, the elegant collection of balanced and inverted globes imbues Alcova Popoli Uniti’s Room 11 with a sense of poetry and grandeur - balancing shape and mass to create a dynamic effect.

Invertere is intentionally designed with the observer in mind. Presented as an exhibit that can be navigated and explored, the sculpture exudes a visual tension from every vantage point,” says McCormick. “The harmonious mix of impossible balance and gravity defied is seemingly random in nature; however, the shape of each Mila pendant is intentionally positioned to create a unique, billowing dialogue between each form.”

Alcova is an experimental prototype for an itinerant cultural institution developed by Space Caviar and Studio Vedèt. Currently operating as a roving platform for art and design across multiple sites in and around Milan, it activates forgotten locations and spaces of historical significance, temporarily recasting them as venues for performative activities.

Preserved in a state of semi-abandonment and partly overgrown by spontaneous vegetation, the monumental building of the former panettone factory of G. Cova & Co. is a key site in the history of the Milanese industry.

Located adjacent to Stazione Centrale and directly in front of the Rovereto stop on the red metro line (approximately 10 minutes from Duomo), it is easily reachable from all parts of the city.