Touch-me 1.0 Murano glass vase by Matteo Silverio, 2020
Dimensions: Approximate 12 x 17 x 35 cm
Materials: Murano glass made with "recycled" glass
All the objects are 100% handmade and customizable (colors, patterns, size)
The composition can be easily transformed into big stuff
Different finishes available.
TOUCH-ME 2.0, 2020 with "recycled glass"
Glass is a strange material. Hard and fragile at the same time. It is apparently light, but heavier than concrete. It is precious even if made of poor materials.
Glass objects have a sort of mystical aura, which in a certain sense preserves them from being touched; it is no coincidence that "do not touch" is the warning we most frequently see in glass shops. At home that tag is not there, but the idea is still present in our minds, so we find very difficult to dust that vase, that frame, that glass object, because we perceive it as "fragile" and we are afraid of breaking it.
The "Touch-me" series is a research project aimed to demolish this sort of mental barrier that denies the public any kind of interaction with glass objects. It does so in a radical way, allowing normal people to shape a glass object, touching it with their own hands without the danger of getting burned.
"Touch-me" vases MUST be touched!
In some ways, it is a rebellious project because it makes the act of manipulating glass democratic, and no longer prerogative of the glass-makers' elite. Therefore, everyone can shape these vases, actively participating to the creative process.
For each vase, the glass has been cut, decorated, and combined by hand, obtaining a manipulable "fabric.” Even more important, the glass of this new series comes from production waste, making the "Touch-me" series sustainable and an excellent example of a circular economy.
Matteo Silverio bio
Matteo Silverio is a trained architect interested in exploring the potentialities given by scientific and technologic innovations in the design process, through a modern and multi-disciplinary approach that involves digital and fabrication tools.
During his professional career, he has collaborated with several international renewed offices, performing a lead design and project management role on various innovative projects, winning several international design competitions.
Many of his projects have been published in magazines, books, and exposed in prestigious museum or institutions such as the Mint Gallery, the Saatchi Gallery or the Corning Museum of Glass, among others.
Beyond his professional career, Matteo promotes teaching and researching activities. Therefore, he is currently lectuer at the Academy of Fine arts of Rovereto, the Istituto Europeo di Design in Venice and the University IUAV of Venice, where he teaches advanced 3D modelling and computational design.