Surfaces preserve the marks left by use. In them, the traces of time, the environment and human hands condense into a silent chronicle of use.
With the curated exhibition “What the surface remembers”, Wilkhahn is offering a new perspective on materiality – caught between permanence and change – as part of Milan Design Week.
Location & Opening Hours
📍 Via Madonnina 17, 20121 Milan (Brera)
20 April · 12:00–20:00
21–23 April · 10:00–18:00
24–25 April · 10:00–20:00
26 April · 10:00–18:00
Inspired by the WiChair, a multifaceted exploration of surfaces as carriers of meaning unfolds. The swivel chair places steel at the centre as a living medium. A material that reacts to forces and transforms them into a tangible presence. The springy curved steel bracket brings mobility to the rigid, its tension enabling balance. This idea is also evident in the sculptures by the Japanese artist Aya Sasakura: organic forms that seem to store movement, inscribed in the metal like the marks left by its crafting.
The exhibition is complemented by photographs by the German photographer Frank Schinski, which document the traces of a life lived. Beyond the artistic staging, they celebrate the aesthetics of momentum.
Through the clarity of industrial precision and the poetry of natural patina, Wilkhahn impressively demonstrates how surfaces evoke memories.
WiChair
The WiChair is a compact, minimalist swivel chair. With its clean lines, it blends harmoniously into any environment whilst adding striking accents with its colour palette.
Behind its minimalist design lies a surprisingly high level of comfort: the springy curved steel bracket allows for natural movements in all directions and adapts effortlessly to the user.
From the construction and choice of materials right through to production, everything is designed to conserve resources, close the loop and ensure reliable quality.
Artists
Aya Sasakura
»Within the varied textures of stainless steel, the landscapes of my earliest memories – the sea and the mountains – begin to overlap. Finding a clear presence that resonates within them and giving it form is, for me, a deeply satisfying and joyful act.«
Born in 1974 in a fishing village on the west coast of Shikoku, she studied crafts and industrial design at the Junior College of Musashino Art University. After several years in commercial art, she moved to Kasama in 2008 and developed her own artistic practice there.
Frank Schinski
»I often come across the notion that this or that is important and therefore must be photographed. What I appreciate about documentary photography is the opportunity to focus on seemingly unimportant things and give them meaning. They become important because they are photographed.«
Born in Prenzlau in 1975, he began an apprenticeship as a bricklayer in 1992, later obtained his A-levels and studied documentary photography. He has been a member of the Berlin-based photography collective OSTKREUZ since 2009. He lives and works in Hanover.