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TECTONIC RESONANCES
London Design Biennale 2021
Curators: Marcos Chilet, Martín Tironi, Carola Ureta Marín & Pablo Hermansen.
MEDAL: Most Outstanding Overall Contribution
Tectonic Resonances takes a close look at the natural sonic properties of the Andean rocks as a gateway into thinking about the geological and political forces in contemporary Design. Chile is a country where rocks and mountains resound: whether it is through earthquakes, tons of minerals excavated from the Andes, or the echoes from ancestral lithic technologies. The Chilean team developed the work by studying and collecting lithophones (rocks that produce particular notes when struck) from the quarries, deserts and mountains in the Andes. The outcome presented in the pavilion is the staging of a primary and ancient action: hitting stones to create an expressive sound, not very different from what human beings would have been doing thousands of years ago at the beginning of the Anthropocene. We use this simple action to connect with critical issues of contemporary design: the local and material consequences of extractivism in the global south, our fast and technological modes of life in the context of geological times, and the active power of non–human forces. We hope that promoting a tectonic thinking of contemporary design can contribute to a new radical ethic of coexistence. We invite the visitors of the Chilean Pavilion to interact with the rocks and to engage with the stories displayed throughout the room.
Lithophonic Stones Designer: Macarena Irarrázaval
Designers: Valentina Aliaga, Design System International & Sistema Simple Estudio
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