‘The Art of Dreams’ exhibition launched at Palazzo Clerici, as part of Milan Design Week. The topica of this year’s edition were geometry, symmetry, rhythm and repetition; and drew inspiration by the iconic Porsche Pepita pattern. This global initiative from Porsche is fostering the creation of art installations on the topic of dreaming.

Porsche has a long history of setting design and style standards, especially in car interiors, with many cars from various eras recognised as classics. For example, the Pepita pattern of the 1960s, made up of small squares connected by diagonal stripes, has long since achieved cult status.

“With ‘The Art of Dreams”‘as the spearhead of Porsche’s cultural marketing, we are exploring the thrilling ambiguity and significance of dreams in our time. Together with Vitra, we are bringing design dreams back to life. Because the iconic Pepita pattern is more than just a pattern. It is cultural heritage,” says Ragnar Schulte, Head of Experiential Marketing at Porsche. 

The centrepiece of the exhibition is the interactive sculpture ‘Lines of Flight’ by artist collective Numen/For Use. This enormous lightweight construction made of delicate cells and single-colour nets invites the observer to climb inside and investigate the suspended landscape. “Our idea of a dream is an inhabitable utopia,” say Numen/For Use. “For us, dreaming is a process of self-discovery in which we confront the new and the unknown. The monochrome diagonals within the Pepita pattern suggest a cloud of excited starlings fleeing the binary black and white matrix.” 

Choreographers Imre and Marne van Opstal staged a dance performance of ‘Lines of Flight’ during the preview evening. “With its interwoven elements, the installation symbolises the complicated net comprising our thoughts, feelings and relationships,” explains Imre van Opstal. “This cocoon-like space evokes feelings of security, belonging and comfort. As a safe haven, it invites us to contemplate our carefree moments of fantasy and discovery. Through dance and movement, we endeavour to set free these unconscious rhythms.”