Touch-Me 1.0 Handmade Murano Glass Vase by Matteo Silverio

Touch-me 1.0 Murano glass vase by Matteo Silverio, 2019 Dimensions: Approximate 15 x 30 x 50 cm Materials: Murano glass All the objects are 100% handmade The composition can be easily transformed into big stuff Different finishes available. 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 it is still present in our minds, so we find it very hard 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 a certain sense it is a rebellious project because it makes the act of manipulating glass democratic, and no longer prerogative of the glass-makers' elite and privileged relationship with the material. Therefore, everyone can shape these vases, actively participating in the creative process. 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.