VELENI is a collection of 12 glass sculptures, crafted by the expert hands of Murano’s glass blowers, a contemporary vanitas shedding awareness on the impact humankind has had on Earth.
VELENI is a new project by Particle, the multidisciplinary team that promotes culture, art, design and creativity through real and virtual experiences, conceived by Lanzavecchia + Wai with curatorial text by Maria Cristina Didero and has been presented in Basel,
from 13 to 19 June 2022, at Curio Design Miami.
A series of objects whose beauty can confound, the collection’s interior is enriched by aesthetically pleasing yet extremely dangerous pollutants.
Revealed by the transparency of glass whilst isolated by airtight chambers, the appeal of the colors clashes with what they actually represent, making us wonder: how and why is our waste so close to what we consume?
Ordinary objects such as a glass, a centerpiece, a vase, an hourglass, a fishbowl become works of art, small manifestos, prompters of conscience, carrying, inside each form, capsules of ‘everyday poisons’ such as microplastics, microfibres, pills, detergents, tires and lead balls.
You see them from afar and think ‘how beautiful are these transparent and colourful glasses’, you see them up close and recognise the encapsulated materials as ‘not good’ and hazardous.
The pollutants, isolated in the glass, react to the movements of the objects and their colours are attractive: they create a playful yet deceptive interaction with the audience as soon as it becomes clear that those coloured substances are toxic.
The glass objects are a beacon of awareness on themes related to consciousness and stewardship of our environment and connect the physical and digital realms:
Physical and digital design, together.
Traditional technique and hyper-contemporary concept.
Transparency and full colors.
Harmony and danger (evaluated).
With VELENI Particle offers visitors and collectors several possibilities:
.virtual, through augmented reality designed and developed by Particle for the collection;
.digital, thanks to multi-thematic insights/guides available on the Particle APP.
Hourglass
A delicate yet beautifully emblematic object symbolizing the passing of time, VELENI’s Hourglass is characterized by the mesmerizing flow of a synthetic detergent creating geometrical shapes as it glides across its glass body.
The object is crafted with the purpose of questioning whether there is still time to find an antidote to the pollutants surrounding us.
Edition/
up to 3 + 2 A.P. for each pollutant’s
Dimensions/
13.0 x 35.5 x 13.0 cm
Vase 01
While a vase may usually serve the purpose of keeping plants alive, VELENI’s Vase VA1-10m’s volume is made up of ‘a soil’ of microplastics. The plants or flowers may seem like they are planted in a mound of multi-colored elements, actually waste: an indication of the large amount of pollutants that contaminate our soil and water, and then ourselves.
Edition/
up to 3 + 2 A.P. for each pollutant’s
Dimensions/
23.0 x 45.0 x 23.0 cm
Fish Bowl
While beautiful tales of underwater worlds like Atlantis have been told throughout centuries, VELENI’s Fish Bowl aims to recount another story. A conoidal volume filled with colored microplastics becomes an uncomfortably submerged island in a domestic aquarium. Your goldfish will be protected by the airtight chamber, but the same cannot be said of the fish that might end up on your table.
Edition/
up to 3 + 2 A.P. for each pollutant’s
Dimensions/
26.0 x 28.0 x 26.0 cm
Centerpiece
VELENI’s communicative and elegant Centerpiece is a vanitas leading to reflection. This blown glass disc filled with microfibers catches the eye, making it wander among volumes, transparencies and roundness. However, why not see it as a sculptural plate that guides you through an experience of consciousness? The poisons almost seem to merge with the food itself highlighting the bond between the waste we produce and what we eat.
Edition/
up to 12 + 2 A.P. for each pollutant’s
Dimensions/
28.0 x 5.0 x 28.0 cm
Bottle
A bottle full of pills. Confusing for many, intriguing for some. Despite its inviting appearance, this bottle may act as warning of the large presence of drugs and antibiotics in our water.
You can place VELENI’s Bottle on your table to actually serve water, but why not use it as a vase or a sculpture to communicate a statement at dinners, triggering a conversation on awareness?
Edition/
up to 8 + 2 A.P. for each pollutant’s
Dimensions/
13.0 x 29.0 x 13.0 cm
Martini Glass
The conical stem filled with colored detergent seems to invade the chalice cup at every sip of our aperitif. Sculpturally beautiful, VELENI’s Martini Glass plays on the dichotomy between attraction and repulsion: every time we have a drink we realize the bittersweet message linked to the dispersion of waste in the environment.
Edition/
up to 24 + 2 A.P. for each pollutant’s
Dimensions/
13.0 x 16.0 x 13.0 cm
Vase 02
Blue might be the color of the sea, yet, if contaminated by pollutants it can change hue. VELENI’s Vase VA2-20eb serves the purpose of keeping plants and flowers alive, plants that however, are surrounded by sinuous microfibers that seem to mimic the reflection of the ocean’s waves.
Edition/
up to 3 + 2 A.P. for each pollutant’s
Dimensions/
23.0 x 45.0 x 23.0 cm
Serving Stands
Put a VELENI’s Serving Stand in the center of your table and let it support the mise en place and your everyday conversations. Its colorful soul penetrates the plate that offers us the food: what is omnipresent on our tables?
Poison, of any kind.
Edition/
up to 3 + 2 A.P. for each pollutant’s
Dimensions/
S: 30.0 x 16.0 x 30.0 cm
M: 30.0 x 20.0 x 30.0 cm
L: 30.0 x 24.0 x 30.0 cm
Bowl
Taking center stage on any table, VELENI’s Fruit Bowl FRB-10m is a joyful jet dawning flatware piece.
The protagonists of this sculpture are the ‘true colors’ behind the kaleidoscopic pollutants filling its base. A glass vanitas which is also suitable to serve your food or mix it, symbolizing the merge between the waste we produce and what we need to feed ourselves to keep living.
Edition/
up to 3 + 2 A.P. for each pollutant’s
Dimensions/
32.0 x 10.0 x 32.0 cm
Glass
Round and tiny, yet heavy and black: lead balls identify this glass with a solid character, VELENI’s Glass.
Moving across the cup, the pollutant engages with all of our senses, creating a visually arresting and sonoric experience that reminds us at every sip of water the weight of our actions.
Edition/
up to 24 + 2 A.P. for each pollutant’s
Dimensions/
9.0 x 10.0 x 9.0 cm
About Particle
Particle is a global community connected by art. We create augmented art experiences across interconnected ecosystems that bring together the spheres of technology, business, science and more.
We create widespread and participatory phygital experiences, thanks to the collaboration of influential and cross-sector international players.
We consider art is a very powerful communicative medium, which we make available to the communities that interact with us through the experiences we create with our partners. By uniting more people around curiosity and passion, new communities can form that are boundless across geography, age, education, values and gender. We study, develop and implement innovative technological solutions that are not invasive to the traditional art experience, but on the contrary elevate and enrich it, overcoming the physical, cognitive but also sectorial barriers of the art world.
We aim at engaging neophyte audiences without losing artistic and curatorial authority, characteristics sought instead by a more experienced audience.
We develop projects that constantly challenge ourselves, continuously embarking on new challenges that aim to enhance the traditional art experience.
We help art institutions to innovate and grow while offering brands a role in supporting this transformation.
Particle was born from an intuition of its founder, Bruno Bolfo.
Since his very first approach with the art world, he has realized how much it is perceived as elitist and detached, which is the opposite of what art itself communicates: art is often the fundamental spark that moves the world toward awe and empathy. He strongly believes that a shared comprehension of art can bring people together and into the art world, to reach this higher.
www.particle.art
