Panerai - In Support of a Poetic Exposition
WORLDTEMPUS - 12 October 2011
"My bug is dismessi. She does not work, but she tries," designer Patricia Urquiola said as she explained the time machine she built for the spectacular "O'clock. time design, design time" exposition currently taking place at the Triennale Design Museum in Milan.
Show curators Silvana Annicchiarico and Jan van Rossen collected designers and artists from around the world to offer highly creative, and sometimes poetic, contributions to the exposition sponsored by Italian watch brand Officine Panerai.
Panerai CEO Angelo Bonati was thrilled about the invitation to sponsor this exhibition. "Technology and aesthetics go hand-in-hand. It is a natural marriage," he explained as the museum opened its doors for a preview just two days ago. "Design and functionality are essential for horology. The watch business benefits from design," he admitted before he said he would not waste more of our precious time, instead choosing to show the large collection of site-specific works, installations, designer items and works of art by the artists who were asked to offer a definition on measuring time, passing time and how time can be experienced.
The stars of the show are two artworks by enfant terrible Damien Hirst. He created one large "Sunflower" and smaller "Fractional Sunflower" paintings, both composed using the technique of spin painting and offering a plethora of Panerai dials with no hands.
"Mr. Hirst has been a long-time Panerai collector," Bonati revealed, obviously very proud of the presence of the famous artist whose work has been the talk of town since shocking the art world in September 2008. This was when his "Beautiful Inside My Head Forever" show sold for more than $200 million at Sotheby's.
Bonati told Worldtempus that he will not buy the Hirst paintings himself. "They are too expensive," he said with a faint smile. He did not reveal the price of the two paintings. "They are likely to be part of Mr. Hirst's private collection," Bonati explained.
However, Hirst's paintings may not be the most interesting artwork on display at the exposition, though his contribution is certain to attract the attention of both art and watch connoisseurs around the world. The happy colors and obvious presence of Panerai in the artworks goes well with the artist's own philosophical view on life and time: "We are here for a good time, not a long time," Hirst claims.