Oskar Zieta “Zieta BazAir”

Zieta BazAir
Curated by Maria Cristina Didero and Art At Work

On the occasion of ‘Salone del Mobile’ 2011 in Milan, Cardi Gallery presents Zieta BazAir, a site-specific installation of the Polish designer Oskar Zieta.

The young Polish designer Oskar Zieta, born in 1975, presents his installation suspended between sky and earth for the very first time at the Cardi Gallery. An unusual self-service of design made possible thanks to the lightness of the production of the renowned Plopp stools, produced in a limited edition of 100 pieces for the gallery and, for the first time, in aluminium with an exclusive pearl finishing.

Zieta’s research has always been oriented towards experimentation and innovation; this time the Polish artist has decided to demonstrate how his FIDU technology - Free Inner Pressure Deformation - can be applied to aluminium, in order to further lighten his pieces, making them easy to transport.

To make his seats float in space Zieta has conceived a set of white coloured balloons; who wants to possess the Pearl Plopp is kindly invited to do it by himself, just as in a Samarcanda bazaar, bulging with pearls, jewels and small-sized souvenirs. How can one grab and reach the stools is a surprise to be discovered only by visiting the exhibition.

For the new Pearl Plopp a special packaging has been conceived and produced purposely for the Zieta BazAir project; a manufactured object, hand made and in pure linen, to underline the distinctive features of Zieta’s work: the combination of seriality and exclusivity able to add to his work even more preciousness whilst facilitating its transport.

As precious jewels, small Pins (Pearl Pins) from different sizes will form a vertical sculpture on the Cardi Black Box’s walls. The Pins will have the same pearl finishing of the stools; conceived as hangers, they can also be used as decorative elements underlining again the flexibility of Zieta’s works.

On the first floor of the gallery empty silhouettes (flat, airless) of Oskar Zieta’s renowned production will be presented so that the public can autonomously inflate them with powerful air compressors.

The Zieta BazAir project at Cardi Black Box is centred on lightness, delicacy and self-made, but mostly on sustainability as recent Zieta’s creations in aluminium version are totally recyclable and the technology with which they are produced is not environmentally harmful. The young designer firmly believes in the different possibilities that the FIDU technology can provide, not solely applied to design but also to architecture - objects produced with FIDU can sustain a weight up to ten times more than its original mass (an element weighing 100 kg can support approximately 1 tonne), this allows the simplification of the productive process and the optimization of transports just as it would happen in a futuristic bazaar.

Zieta BazAir is the first designer’s solo-show in Italy.