For Melbourne Design Week 2024, MATTERS will again claim Villa Alba Museum as it’s home and heartbeat. Opening its doors to Melbourne’s premier clash of contemporary design within classical walls, MATTERS will play host to some of Australia’s most notable
and emerging designers, makers, and artists.

(SOME THINGS)
MATTERS

 







OBJECT DENSITY
A Sydney-based design studio established by Nicola Charlesworth and Kim Stanek. Object Density creates artistic objects of use, drawing upon research and cultural narrative to communicate values of sustainability and community. Often integrating waste or discarded materials, they seek to reinstate value through conscious process and material decontextualization.

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(MATERIALITY) This project explores the technique of dying aluminum with native Australian species, namely Eucalypts, Acacias, and Callistemons. All termed sclerophylls, a type of vegetation characterised by leathery leaves and superior ability to withstand long periods of dryness, these species make up a large proportion of the Australian environment.
    Thriving in nutrient-poor, sandy soils, and all have a strategic interdependence with fire, sclerophylls dominate and shape our landscape, attributing so much of the character that we link to our cultural identity.
    Their abundance gives us a glimpse into the extreme age of this continent and how humans have shaped it. Deep weathering of the crust depletes nutrients in soils, which when coupled with the increased prevalence of fires post-colonisation create the foundations in which sclerophylls thrive. Their abundance is a visualisation and embodiment of our past, showing us both the ancient beauty of this country, but also the destruction we have brought to it.
    Drawing upon the colour pallet developed with this innovative technique, and further exploration into the truths and cultural falsehoods of our cultural identity, this project will be realised into a collection for the 2025 edition of (MATTERS).


(SOME THINGS)
MATTERS
 
For Melbourne Design Week 2024, MATTERS will again claim Villa Alba Museum as it’s home and heartbeat. Opening its doors to Melbourne’s premier clash of contemporary design within classical walls, MATTERS will play host to some of Australia’s most notable
and emerging designers, makers, and artists.

MATTERS is a collaborative platform and exhibition host that advocates for time and intention in the design process. Prompted by the question 'what matters to you?', MATTERS serves as an outlet for contemporary concerns, with a steadfast focus on three core thematic pillars: process, community, and longevity. Following the success of (NO THINGS) in 2023 - the inaugural instalment in a three-part group exhibition initiated by Marlo Lyda and Jordan Fleming -  MATTERS will once again claim Villa Alba Museum as its home and heartbeat in 2024. This Melbourne Design Week, MATTERS will uniquely commandeer the entire venue for a premier convergence of contemporary design within classical walls.For Melbourne Design Week 2024, MATTERS will again claim Villa Alba Museum as it’s home and heartbeat. Opening its doors to Melbourne's premier clash of contemporary design within classical walls, MATTERS will play host to some of Australia’s most notable and emerging designers, makers, and artists. Witness the museum's ornate chambers and distinctive living spaces transform into a prolific fusion of materials, concepts, and characters.