Milan Salone 2017: Colour legacy

Milan – Israeli designer Naama Agassi examines cultural perceptions of colour throughout history.

• Artificial Regality is part of an ongoing project by Agassi at Design Academy Eindhoven
• The designer uses ceramics to reclaim the forgotten status of rare shades and pigments

Agassi’s project highlights the difference between the traditional perception of certain colours such as turquoise and purple and the values people associate with them in today’s consumerist society.

The first chapter of her research, Royal Green-Blue, examines how the shade once associated with royalty and nobility has become synonymous with cheap and disposable products such as medical utensils and dusters. The designer highlights how the perception of value is inextricably linked to the production process, and shows how, in an age in which every shade can be artificially manufactured, we have lost the cultural context of colour.

As a visual representation of the issue, Agassi created a collection of ceramics featuring oxidised copper details and contemporary found objects that matched the colour. ‘I wanted to reclaim the colour’s archaic status in new objects, now precious for their ‘designed’ status rather than their arduous production,’ explains the designer.