HOOK BOOK almost 1000

You could never accuse designer and artist Martino Gamper of being idle. Audacious? Yes. Precious? No. Few individuals have put such a volume and variety of work into the world with their bare hands. His curiosity to experiment through doing is impressive, voracious, perhaps even concerning. How restless is that mind? How raw are those fingers?

Hook Book – Almost 1000 catalogues the indefatigable Italian’s recent focus on – well, the clue is in the title. It is a beautiful object in itself, designed by Åbäke and bearing all the hallmarks of the design studio’s playful sophistication. In a glorious panoply of papers and printing techniques, Gamper’s thousand-odd (and sometimes they are odd) hooks are laid bare. The sheer range is mind-boggling in itself. Each hook is a minor feat; together, the collection presents as a taxonomy of materials and processes – a single archetype extrapolated into smithereens.