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Ingo Maurer – Less taste is more taste

20th Century Design 15 – 16 dicembre 2021

For Ingo Maurer (1932 – 2019), a simple light bulb must be “The ultimate synthesis of poetry, industry and design”, i.e. technological innovation is the means of expressing the contemporary beauty of a light that is able to move, awakening memories and sensations. These were the reasons behind the birth of “Bulb”, the 1966 table lamp that represents his debut in the world of design. Self-taught and a true outsider of German design, he conceived his works as reproducible in series. Others, on the other hand, are highly varied individual copies that generated a sense of surprise and disorientation, which does not disregard a strict control of the production cycle often conducted personally. His creations are ironic, hybrid, often through the use of poor materials. They are fuelled by a playful approach and interaction with the end user, which leads Maurer to combine the production of lamps with the creation of installations, true artistic performances for exhibitions, cultural events, underground stations, theatres and shopping centres. The next Design auction will feature a pair of wall lamps from the UCHIWA series from 1973, and a floor lamp, Ilios model, from around 1980, both produced by M. Design, which make his words about his research prophetic: “Without taking risks, without engaging with objects that do not correspond to the established idea of beauty, our ideas will not grow, and the aesthetic quality of our work will gradually deteriorate… Sometimes less taste is more taste”.