"Nowadays, design is no longer the harmony of all functions; it's a fashion phenomenon set amid sales promotions, marketing and futility" Oliviero Tosacni, exhibition curator Formed in 2004, JoeVelluto (JVLT) is one of Italy s most renowned design and communication studios, and the first of its kind to explore the relationship between design and conceptual art. Velluto has also produced several design exhibitions centred around the increasingly tenuous link between design and functionality in today's zeitgeist. The latest of Velluto's solo exhibitions is funcooldesign, which he states has the intent of criticizing projects made of nothing which are merely cosmetic items. Such projects, Velluto argues, deviate from design s origins as a constructive process focused on form and function, and instead are consumed merely by sales and marketing. Curated by famously controversial photographer Oliviero Toscani, the exhibition displays objects that question the meaning of design and throw the function of each object into doubt. Text in English and Italian ILLUSTRATIONS 50 colour *
