ONE MUST-SEE SEQUENCE - MICHAEL ANASTASSIADES EXHIBITION / ARTICLE BY NATALIA TSALLI

Text by Natalia Tsalli 

 

Walking in the exhibition, the first thing one becomes aware of is the perfect marriage between Michael Anastassiades’ modern lights and this 100 years old, crude and unrefined space that Anastassiades has decided to transform into his personal studio over the next months. The space used to be a Camden garage long before it became home for Anastassiades’ beautiful designs, yet he decided to leave it exactly the way it was. 

 

Lights were positioned in different ways; some standing on the crimson concrete floor, others hanging from the ceiling on metallic cords and others laying on surfaces in the space near the dark blue brick walls, creating a contrast of colour and light; new and old; refined and raw.They were all very much alike yet very different from each other, consisting of cylindrical, hand-made, metal brass rods and 1m or 0.5m long tubular LED bulbs arranged in different configurations which emit ‘apparent effortlessness’. 

 

Simple yet imposing, those lights reminded me of tasteful and powerful lightsabers that were organised in sequence as if you were supposed to follow them and then find which shape comes next, rightfully defending the collection’s name ‘One Well Known Sequence’. All of Anastassiades’ lighting collections, for which he has become best known have this character and geometry about them.

 

This is the third lighting collection that Anastassiades designs for the Nilufar Gallery in Milan, the other two being ‘Tree in the Moonlight’ and ‘Lit Lines’, both of which also consist of metal brass rods and luminous bulbs in different shapes. However, Anastassiades is not only concerned with lighting projects but also deals with product, furniture and environmental design projects.

 

Practicality and minimalism are also present in all his other works which can be found in permanent collections in museums and galleries all around the world, such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Craft Council in London, the FRAC Centre in Orleans, France, and the MAK in Vienna. One Well Known Sequence is going to be open to the public until the 17th of October.