MICROCLIMA – PERMANENT INSTALLATION AT MAX MARA MILAN’S FLAGSHIP STORE

MICROCLIMA – PERMANENT INSTALLATION AT MAX MARA MILAN’S FLAGSHIP STORE

📅20 Ottobre 2022, 11:55

Max Mara collaborating with the founding family’s contemporary art museum Collezione Maramotti, unveiled a site-specific artwork created by French artist Eva Jospin and called “Microclima.

Eva Jospin created a metal glasshouse on the top floor of the store that is both intimate yet also in strict relation with the outdoors.

Microclima - Permanent installation at Max Mara Milan's flagship store

The entrance of the boutique is on the central shopping street Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, but the unit also overlooks Liberty Square, a key meeting point in the city, home to the Apple store, among others.

The glasshouse is inspired by late 19th-century conservatories, a period in which the Liberty style rose to fame — a reference to the square below. Jospin created a majestic and monochrome three-dimensional cardboard landscape en relief in the pavilion. Vegetal elements stand on a mineral substrate, vertical corks evoke exotic cacti, and tropical trees, stalagmites and fossils complete the installation.

Microclima - Permanent installation at Max Mara Milan's flagship store

This is like a mental collage of a vision of nature,” said Eva Jospin. “I like to work with this sense of illusion. We are growing a kind of nature that is entirely imaginary. And it’s a way to reclaim nature.

Metallic yarns, ropes, acorn shells and small stones are also part of the work, leading to musings about the relationship of man with nature, contended Jospin.

Microclima - Permanent installation at Max Mara Milan's flagship store

To further deliver her message, Jospin worked with perfumer Julien Rasquinet of fragrance supplier IFF to develop a special essence for the artwork, which is reminiscent of the scents that can be wafting in a tropical greenhouse.

Jospin won a contest launched in 2019 by Max Mara, whose goal was to enhance the space within the flagship and to put it in relation with the Liberty square. “Microclima” offers “people in the store and in the square the opportunity to meet with art,” said Jospin, noting that the impact, colors and impressions of the installation change dramatically depending on the light. “You can see the buildings and the square through the work, which alters this view. And from the square, you can see ‘Microclima’.”

Microclima - Permanent installation at Max Mara Milan's flagship store

Photo © Masiar Pasquali


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