Soft Machine

A series of pointed—and seemingly pointless—silhouettes floating above the visitors. This is the starting point of Claire Duport’s installation suspended from the ceiling of Marsèll’s flagship store. Made from translucent fabric, the forms reveal their own skeleton, conveying a sense of lightness and fragility. Rather than focusing on finished objects, Duport creates a visual rhythm that evokes the industrial process behind any object. The repeated forms, at once seductive and oppressive, no longer appear as products, because they themselves have no discernible use. It is a language that resonates deeply with Marsèll, where design begins with making, experimentation and material. Even the colour palette follows the tones developed for the brand’s latest collection, allowing the sculptures to emerge from the same visual landscape as the shoes themselves. Rather than resolving contradictions, Duport’s installation for Marsèll holds them in suspension, inviting viewers to discover how long tension can be comfortably held. Soft Machine is the latest chapter of Spazio, the ongoing programme through which Marsèll invites artists and designers to engage creatively with its Milan space.