Kaleidoscope-o-rama Traveling Bluestocking Salon x CC-Tapis Milan2024

Kaleidoscope-o-rama: a space where everything can happen.

On the occasion of Milan Design Week 2024, Bethan Laura Wood took over the cc-tapis Milanese Headquarters with an installation of custom rugs and furniture.

cc-tapis’ HQ was transformed into the first of Bethan’s traveling Bluestocking salons: a space for gathering, sharing and discussing. Bethan’s installation continues her recent body of work for the MECCA x NGV Women in Design Commission, Kaleidoscopeo-rama

3 new color variations of the ‘fancy woods’ Kaleidoscope-o-rama carpets produced with cc-tapis, were layout in reference to the NGV’s stained glass ceiling, a symphony of color and light. Accompanying the rugs, Bethan designed and produced two Salon chairs for conversation and relaxation.

Utilizing her bespoke ‘book block’ veneers made in collaboration with Alpi wood, they are the first companions to the Kaleidoscope-o-Rama bookcase which is now part of the permanent collection of the NGV.

A Bluestocking Salon talk, curated by Bethan Laura Wood and moderated by the design Curators of the NGV, with special guests
from the design and the art worlds Patricia Urquiola, Sabine Marcelis and Libby Sellers took place during the week

Bluestocking Salons were intellectual gatherings, made predominantly of women, in England, in the mid-eighteenth century where women could be free to discuss philosophy,
literature, art, architecture and current events at the same level as men.

ABOUT THE RUG

Kaleidoscope-o-rama: collection of ‘Fancy’ woods  – Jane , Hester and Mary

Originally designed as part of her contemporary Bluestocking Saone, to complement a 360-degree rotating bookcase which Bethan Laura Wood designed for her MECCA x NGV Women in Design Commission at the 2023 NGV Triennial in Melbourne. Wood imagined a rug based on arrays of tessellated pages from her custom veneer “book blocks” produced by Alpi. A nod to the power of textiles within “women’s work” and a reference to the desire for highly decorative oriental carpets during the regency period, which through advances in industrial weaving were being re-interpreted by local manufacturers throughout Britain to allow the middle class to join the trend.

Starting from this custom project, cc-tapis PROJECT worked with Bethan Laura Wood to develop an array of “kaleidoscopic” rugs: Kaleidoscope-o-rama. Each piece is made of complex patterns of colors dyed by hand, which are then handtufed by expert artisans following Bethan’s kaleidoscopic design, pushing the boundaries in hand-craftsmanship, illustrating the potential of cc-tapis PROJECT. This process, a bridge between the hand and machine allows the yarn to be tufted in the direction of the grain further highlighting the unique texture and patternation of this ‘fancy’ wood. The mirrored patternation creates visuals of abstract shapes and forms open to multiple interpretations.

Going beyond the simple decorative function, brightly coloured pieces create a new environment within an existing one. A space of intimacy and sociality which brings people, spaces and objects into dialogue.

Kaleidoscope-o-rama is on display during Milan Design Week at the cc-tapis Headquarters and at Alcova: Villa Bagatti Valesecchi.

ABOUT THE LOUNGE CHAIRS

Allowing the book matching of the bespoke Alpi Wood Veneers to lead the form, Bethan has created a pair of hexagonal lounge chairs , who’s back engulfs you between its open pages – like diving into a good book – one finds themselves embraced into the kaleidoscope-o-rama world .

Developed for the first of Bethan’s Bluestocking Travelling Salons, the two lounges are positioned ready for conversation.

Designed as a companion to the kaleidoscope-o-rama bookcase, they too are made to be viewed from all sides , and if you are stuck for conversation starters let your imagination run wild with the faces, animals and other worldly creatures that the intricately  patterned  veneers evoke.