Much as we bemoan our annual trip to Milan, we do generally return enriched in some form or another. And, secretly, glad that we went.
2011's epiphany came when we were introduced to the Milanese producer Azucena. The introduction coming via Konstantin Grcic and his Entre-Deux "screen/divider/barricade", an object that was/is the start of a longer term cooperation between Grcic and Azucena.
A continuation of which we are patiently awaiting.
Until then we are whetting our Azucena appetite with the exhibition Between Time in Berlin.
Staged by vintage furniture dealer Erik Hofstetter and interior designer Gisbert Pöppler, Between Time is billed as a hybrid between "interior design showroom, furniture store and art gallery". A description which anyone who has viewed Between Time knows is almost an insult to the spectacular setting: a neglected 19th century former ironmonger shop in Berlin-Mitte.
And for us it is the setting that makes the show.
Yes it is all very obvious. Yes it is maybe all too obvious. But then so was Elvis Presley in his 1973 "Aloha from Hawaii" concert. And Between Time is every bit as dramatic, every bit as rhinestone and every bit as delectable.
For us the highlights of Between Time are the objects from the Azucena collection including, for example, Luigi Caccia Dominioni's 1958 Catilina iron armchair, his 1964/65 Boccia and Grappolo lamps or Corrado Corradi Dell'Acqua's Angolo upholstered chairs. Then there is of course Dominioni's Lampada Poltrona which in 2011 we described as "....a leather strap with an in-built, adjustable, brass lamp. And a switch. The idea is that Lampada Poltrona can be placed over a chair, side table or a pillow/cushion and so used as a mobile reading lamp. Genius."
And it still is.
To compliment the Milanese artisan classics the curators have bestrewn the space with some truly majestic examples of vintage furniture design, including an 1880 Thonet chair with perforated markings that offers an interesting, and rarely seen, perspective on the, early, Thonet aesthetic philosophy. It looks like a brogue.
If we're honest we didn't give the displayed art works the attention they almost certainly deserve; but we were there for the furniture and the location and so make no apologies for being so distracted.
And it is all very distracting.
Very enchanting.
And highly recommendable. Some impressions.....
Between Time runs at Wallstrasse 85, 10179 Berlin until September 22nd 2013.
