Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Bacterio
Ettore Sottsass Italian, born Austria
Manufacturer Abet Laminati Italian
Not on view
The design is just a few of the many patterns Sottsass developed for Abet Laminati, the Italian plastic laminate manufacturer. Sottsass began experimenting with the material on his Superboxes in 1966, and he designed trade fair booths for Abet in 1970. The laminates became the main palette from which Memphis designers based their furniture veneers and textiles. The pattern derives from common, everyday materials and objects: terrazzo, chain link, and sponges. For Bacterio, Sottsass detailed the surface texture and form of a Buddhist temple in Madurai, India, which he then abstracted into a field of black squiggles.
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