It is quite clear to me Karim Rashid’s decision to base this work of his for ABET LAMINATI at the Triennale di Milano on the shape of the hexagon.

In this exhibition he seems to give a direct, almost diagrammatic demonstration of the way he works, of the methodology that underlines his visions and his research. The hexagon expresses a kaleidoscopic and cabalistic symbol; it is at the same time a closed and an open figure, the systems of concentric hexagons condense and dilate to infinity. To apply to this geometric, perspective and dynamic shape the “catalogue” of his styles and colours is for Karim a way to put forth a world generated and defined completely from within. A self-referential invention.

It is a visual globe with a high concentration of energy, developed on a weave of multiple expressive alphabets. These spaces in the Triennale therefore, even if they schematically define the functions and presence of real objects, are in reality linguistic gardens, aesthetic landscapes all centred on the hypnotic strength of the hexagon that has generated them.

The material that they are made from is the digitally printed ABET laminate, a technical idea which seems specifically designed to lend itself to virtuosity and pictorial games of this kind. Karim understands the material fully; he exasperates and takes to their limits all the possible combinations.

A further example in this project of the obsessive need of Karim to generate utopian visions which, with their cosmetic aptitude, are able to invade all possible spaces, places and surfaces with a weave both optical and psychedelics , of great psychic suggestion. The desire, the violence, the generosity and the narcissism to fill with his signs every small and large element of the universe.