Cambio: Formafantasma

Image: Serpentine Gallery

The creative design duo Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin are Studio Formafantasma who have been exploring the global effects of the timber industry. Their exhibition ‘Cambio’ is currently on display at the Serpentine Gallery (until 15th November 2020) and investigates the question of ethically sourced wood and humankind’s relationship with trees.

Timber is one of the most abundant materials used within design and architecture. One of the main aims of the exhibition is to encourage designers to become more aware of the source of their wood. As part of their research Formafantasma obtained forensic detailing from various wood samples of everyday, commonplace objects - a broom,a chair, a handle, a table tennis bat. The results expose evidence of illegal trade with a number of rare and endangered wood sources being discovered.

On display are wood samples from Kew Gardens Economic Botany Collection which were first exhibited in the Great Exhibition of 1851. These samples had been collected from various parts of the British Empire with little information provided as to the indigenous use and the socio-economic environment of the areas they came from. In fact they would have been displayed at that time to promote the success of the British in its elite imperial vision of colonialism, which is the antithesis of their current intention. It was interesting to note that one particular sample, Green Ebony, had already been noted as extinct in the nineteenth century.

Perhaps the most emotive part of the exhibition is expressed in one of the visual essays, Quercus, made in collaboration with philosopher and botanist Emanuele Coccia. The film considers the human race from the view of trees and shines a light on how much they have been taken for granted;

“We are alive.

Exactly like you, although we live much longer than you do. Therefore, we know your lineage, we know your story.

We are, after all, old friends.”

“My body is with you, and in your life, in the most unexpected forms. I am the chair on which you sit, the table you use to write, your wardrobe, your sideboard, but also your most ordinary and extraordinary tools.

We are in you as much as outside you. You just have to breathe: the oxygen that is contained in the air you inhale at any time is only a by-product of our metabolism, and yet it is only through this detritus of our existence that you are alive. To breathe means immersing yourself in our life and being penetrated by our aerial selves. Every breath is an intimate communion with us.”

Cambio is a free exhibition being shown at The Serpentine Sackler Gallery until 15th November 2020, you can book tickets here.