Scultura da viaggio
Bruno Munari
Bruno Munari: Scultura da viaggio. [Milan: Montenapoleone Gallery, June 1958]. Original edition [300 copies]. 7 x 12-inch [18 x 30 cm] red/green die-cut duplex cardboard sheet with printed title and limitation. SIGNED by Munari to Helen and Gene Federico and numbered 25 from an edition of 300 copies. Inner folds lightly stressed, otherwise a nearly fine example of this ‘Travel Sculpture.’
Munari exhibited his Scultura da Viaggio (Travel Sculptures), portable and foldable sculptures made from coloured cardboard for the first time in 1958, and would continue to produce them in paper, pear tree wood, metal and in plastic. He stated: “as long as art stands aside from the problems of life it will only interest a very few people.” These light sculptures: small enough to pack in a suitcase and take on any journey, so that we can all recreate a connection with our cultural world, even in the most anonymous of hotel rooms.” Art merging with life, as Munari wanted.
A review of the Montenapoleone Gallery exhibition published in Ark: Journal of the Royal College of Art no. 25 (Spring 1960): “In Milan recently, at the Montenapoleone Gallery, Munari exhibited a series of 'travelling sculptures' that are foldable and reducible to two dimensions. These sculptures were made, for the most part, of white or coloured cardboard, also there were some in wood veneer, others in metal. Nearly all these sculptures were exhibited on large Italian trunks and suitcases made of leather, instead of the pedestals normally used. The intention of these travelling sculptures was explained in the invitation to the exhibition:
“When travelling one often finds oneself in hotel rooms furnished in a way very different from one's taste, and to rectify this situation, a travelling sculpture (which one has brought along folded in the suitcase), when opened up and exhibited in the room, creates a point of reference for one's own personal world.”
“During the exhibition, in a radio interview, Munari was asked if, having to leave in a hurry and having very little space in his suitcase, would he leave out the travelling sculpture or the toothpaste. “The toothpaste,” replied Munari, “because I could find that anywhere, but as yet not the travelling sculpture.”
“Munari does not make the sculptures in single copies, except in rare cases; he prefers to make several copies according to the occasion. The folding sculptures of pearwood (those 95cm high and wide) were made in ten copies, numbered and signed by the artist. A small sculpture 17cm high was made in red and green cardboard in three hundred numbered and signed copies, and sent by air to various friends of Munari all over the world. “
In Graphis 43, Paul Rand wrote of his friends and neighbors Gene and Helen Federico “. . . [Their] outstanding characteristic is that these two graphic artists operate successfully and maintain their artistic integrity in a world which is by and large unsympathetic to artists in general and to the problems involved in their work . . .
“. . . It is perhaps not amiss in these troubled and troublesome times to note the sociological as well as the cultural contributions of sincere, gifted young artists like the Federicos. They not only seek and affirm a higher standard in the all-important communicative arts but they are in their roles of artists with integrity, are to be numbered among that small but potent minority who strive in an age of increasing "conformism" and mass-produced mediocrity to live and create as individuals, who seek inspiration rather than security in tradition, and who in their work testify to their belief in the creative vitality of the human being.”
Bruno Munari (Milan, 1907 – 1998) was mentored by the Futurist Filippo Tommaso Marinetti starting at the age of 18. Munari first showcased his "Useless Machines" in 1932 -- a series of Dadaist ever-moving geometrical solids suspended in the air. In 1948, Munari, along with Atanasio Soldati, Gianno Monet and Gillo Dorfles formed the MAC Movement [Movimento Arte Concreta] "to develop abstract painting and sculpture with no links whatsoever to the outside world." During this time, Munari continued creating his Convex-Concave sculptures and experimented with color, space, movement, form and background in his Negative-Positive works. The Italian Design Industry's interest in Munari led him to create the Pigomma Company's toy monkey, the Danese melamine cube ashtray and numerous other industrial design and illustrative works. After a career of over seventy years, Munari gained the title of "founding father of Italian design." Picasso described him as "the new Leonardo."
Munari, a self-taught man, became more than a graphic designer. He was an industrial designer, architect, writer, philosopher and educator. In the 20’s he became involved in the Futurist movement. He worked as a photographer and graphic designer for Pirelli, Cinzano, IBM and Olivetti. After WW2, he started to work as an industrial and interior designer. He challenged all conventions and stereo types, he pulled down barriers between architecture and design with his modest creativity and ingeniousness. Munari created experimental travel sculptures that could collapse and put into a suitcase, simple exquisite lamps, animated children’s books, unreadable books (Libri illegibili), useless machines and so many other beautiful artefacts. He wrote many books, and thanks to Edizione Corraini, many of those have been reprinted. He was awarded the Compasso ‘Oro, Milano in 1954, 1955 and 1979. His advice: “Take life as seriously as a game.”