Louie Rigano

The everyday objects we use perfunctorily in our homes fade into the background of daily routine. Mass-produced commodities swiftly devolve into trivial markers of mere functional necessity, status and personal value, or the rote of daily living. These objects, reduced to props or symbols, are flat. How can a product’s inherent flatness be exploited to add function and value to an otherwise hollow experience? A space for living is referred to as a flat, but the term can also describe the way decoration is applied, the way we experience media through digital interfaces, and the condition of being artificial or simulated. Distilled down to immediacy, illusion and interface, these fundamental elements of flatness are manifested in five products for the home (a light, curtain, tableware set, rug and table) that all maintain a contextual awareness of the history and function of the domestic interior. By subverting the functional and aesthetic roles of the most banal of commodities within the most intimate and personal of environments, I aim to expose new channels of value in commercially viable products. In a world becoming increasingly virtual and throwaway, my objective is to craft new and relevant ways of using products that facilitate engagement on a higher level.