All Photos By Gail

The Porca Miseria! Chandelier is a revolt against the “slickness” of contemporary design and designer  Ingo Maurer’s celebration of slow–motion cinematic explosions. Only 10 of these lamps are produced annually, as four builders and must work on each one for almost 5 days, carefully breaking plates with a hammer or dropping them on the floor to determine the arrangement of the final design. The title, a common Italian interjection similar to “damn,” expressing irritation, surprise, annoyance, or incredulity, evokes both the frustration of breaking a dish and the release that comes from breaking many of them.

Porca Miseria! was Photographed while on exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art, in the Design Gallery.

New Photo Added December 11, 2019