Fiandre surfaces featured in the exhibition “EMOTION. L’arte contemporanea racconta le emozioni” in Rome’s Chiostro del Bramante

Alessandro Sciaraffa (born 1976) has chosen ceramic slabs from Fiandre’s Graniti Maximum, Pietre Maximum and Datauni Maximum collections for his sound installation Le ombre del mare (Shadows of the sea), showcased in a group exhibition curated by Danilo Eccher entitled “EMOTION. L’arte contemporanea racconta le emozioni” (“EMOTION. Contemporary art represents the emotions”), open until 7 January 2025 in the dramatic setting of Rome’s Chiostro del Bramante. Le ombre del mare is an immersive interactive installation in which suspended Fiandre ceramic maxi-slabs play the sounds of the sea through a speaker: a series of sensors picks up visitors’ shadows as they move about the exhibition space, generating the sound of the sea and breaking waves to encourage people to perceive “the sea within us”.

“My relationship with Fiandre began in faraway Kazakhstan, where I held a solo show,” the artist from Turin tells us. “I was amazed by the quality of the material, by its potential, and by the Iris Ceramica Group’s focus on environmental sustainability, and I thought how much I would like to work with these slabs and make them into a form of expression”. The artist chose three ultra-thin slabs for use in the installation, measuring 2m x 1m and only 6 mm thick: the first is from the Graniti Maximum collection, and has the particularity of combining grain and crystals in a unique way, in the colour Alaska White Maximum; the second material is from the Pietre Maximum collection, in the colour Jatoba Brown Maximum with a soft, smooth honed finish; the third slab is Uni Ice Maximum from the Datauni Maximum collection, a pure, all-embracing white with a semi-gloss finish.

“Every material has its own way of responding to sound and its own particular qualities,” the artist explains. “This is the first time I have reproduced “Le ombre del mare” using Fiandre porcelain slabs, and I am fascinated by the high quality and outstanding performance they offer: from their versatility to their light weight, from their brilliant surface textures to the way they can be used as an eco-active material”. Just as Alessandro Sciaraffa’s research has evolved out of the exploration of spaces reflecting our very essence, Fiandre’s expertise, consistently with the company’s new statement “for unique expressions”, is revealed in its ability to come up with ceramic solutions, even customised ones. It gives form to spaces and installations that reflect everyone’s true essence, whether they are artists or designers, with an increasingly sustainable, innovative approach.