EDITION I - BRUT

BRUT makes its début during the Salone del Mobile (Milan, 2018), where it will introduce the choices and concepts that define and depict the collective identity of the ensemble.

Raw, black coals cover the floor of the exhibition space. Together, the crude stones form a landscape; an irregular field with an idiosyncratic relation to the location. The coals – with their massive materiality, subtle hues of black and their ability to both absorb and deflect environmental luminosity – engage in a relationship with the tonality of the emotions, with the stratification of the mind. This black landscape is regularly interrupted by plateaus – support bases for the individual designs. They play with the architecture of the environment, create intermediate spaces and shades, rhythms and counter rhythms.

Furthermore, the coal attaches itself to history and shows the way in which elements transform into something new throughout time. At the same time, it refers to the way in which it has influenced Belgium’s industrial past as a resource. And yet it is, first and foremost, an ode to the beauty of untreated, primary materials.

The scenography delineates a (thinking) space and defines an atmosphere of contemplation and stillness, of devotion to matter and time. The tight geometry of the pedestals – the architectural organization which communicates with the wider environment – guides the concentration and gaze of the spectator. The works he encounters are always a combination of existing and new work, of realized and planned concepts. They mirror six individual creative practices which coincide in part – in this case, explicitly.

This scenography with a combination of natural, untreated materials and architectural elements, is a constant throughout the current and future presentations of BRUT. By sharing the same scene, which has been organized collectively, the objects come together both visually and conceptually and visualize a collective narrative. The choice for charcoal functions as a prologue: a material introduction. It allows the six designers to – temporarily – detach themselves from personal trajectories and motives. Additionally, it serves as a challenge, as it forces them to open and explore the perspectives and possibilities of a shared ambition – radical and vital.