by Costanza Carbotta.
The Austrian duo Simiæn, namely Julia Schwarz and Lisi Penker, brought the future to the Isola Design Festival, through ancient art and a timeless tradition, also from the point of view of tableware: a tea set. Licking Rocks is a project designed with a view to finding alternative food sources, in this case lichens, for the future. A special blend to drink and a set, entirely made of stone, to savor tomorrow.
Where did your interest in lichens come from?
While studying at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, we became interested in organisms that, in the event of famine, could be new sources of food for the future, in particular algae, fungi and mosses. In this research we discovered the world of lichens, which opened our eyes to a new possibility. Through these studies, focused on the scenario of a possible famine, lichens often appeared as a possible solution to the problem.
Since we have always had a particular interest in materials such as stones and rocks, which is where lichens are commonly found, our interest in these organisms has only increased. Their appearance, their incredible resistance and their composition impressed us enormously. In fact, they are composed of algae and mushrooms, so their particular flavor is also a fundamental and interesting part of this project.
Hinterthal, a blend of lichen-based tea with berries, which can be purchased on the Simiæn website.
Why did you choose the stone for your project? How does it fit into a tea set?
The reason behind this choice is connected to the lichens themselves, and their flavor. Sometimes, those who taste lichens describe the experience as that of “licking a rock”, in fact it is for this reason that we called the collection Licking Rocks.
This “rocky sensation” pushed us, therefore, to choose the stone, furthermore we think it is a very pleasant material to the touch, therefore perfect for a tea set. With the help of the Stein Schwarz company, the cups are produced from blocks of this material processed with a mix of milling, a special drilling tool and finally manual sanding.
At the beginning the pieces came out very thick, now the elements of the set are so thin that they look like glass, but resistant and able to last over time just like rocks. For now we only use a local material, but we want to create a series of cups created with different types of rocks. However, each material needs time to be tested, because each stone has unique and different characteristics that we want to learn about and exploit.
The Licking Rocks stone set.
What opportunity does Isola.Design represent for you? Why did you choose to participate?
We think that the opportunity to take part in such a well-curated performance is an excellent possibility, given that we know how much work goes into organizing a good performance. We knew Isola thanks to its Dutch edition at the Dutch Design Week, and we already knew that it was a well-established, organized event, with a strong international push, and precisely for these reasons we chose to participate.
The two designers: on the left Julia Schwarz, on the left Lisi Penker.
On the cover, one of the cups from the set. Modular and therefore usable with or without the base, which can be conveniently inserted.
