The geometric Arnold Circus stool, rendered in a kaleidoscope of colours, has become an identifiable interior statement. Ahead of the Aotearoa Art Fair, Leanne Moore meets the Italian-born designer Martino Gamper, who has made New Zealand his second home.
Martino Gamper might not be a household name, but it’s highly
Originally made for a community regeneration project in London 18 years ago, the Arnold Circus stool is adored for its multiple colour options and clean but interesting lines, as well as its utilitarian value. It’s the ultimate stackable seat, side table or storage solution — and it happens to be manufactured in New Zealand, thanks to Martino’s close connections Downunder.
The designer first visited New Zealand on a working holiday in 1993 and was struck by the wild beauty of the landscapes and coastline, and the can-do attitude of the people. “It was a different New Zealand back then. It was small but interesting. It had a lot of character. The people were very inventive.”
In a twist of fate, New Zealand has become his home away from home. He’s spent every summer here for the past 15 years, after marrying New Zealand-born, London-based artist Francis Upritchard. A one-bedroom bach on Great Barrier Island is their bolt hole.
“It’s a shack,” says Martino, sipping a beer in a dimly lit corner of Annabel’s Wine Bar in Ponsonby, Auckland, late one autumn afternoon. He’s chosen a convenient interview location, near the studio of his artist friend, where he’s been prepping a piece for the Aotearoa Art Fair that’s just days away. Martino, who is represented by Michael Lett Gallery, is exhibiting at the fair for the first time with a major new fragmented table, along with a suite of unique dining chairs.
Dressed casually in inky blue shorts and T-shirt, Martino exudes a relaxed energy. The laidback lifestyle is something he enjoys during his antipodean breaks.
“One of the reasons I come to New Zealand every summer is to get away from the routine of the London studio and to work differently. I feel much freer here and I enjoy that. We spend most of our time on Great Barrier and there are limitations there and that can be quite good.”
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Advertise with NZME.Martino and Francis decided to put down roots on the island after many years of nomadic holidays visiting friends and family, driving the length and breadth of the country. Now their three months here are spent almost exclusively on the island.
Going bush on Great Barrier is the ultimate contrast to their busy urban life in Hackney, London. Their island home is off-grid, with solar panels for power, rainwater harvested from the roof and a long-drop toilet. The couple has embraced the lifestyle, pleased to be leaving a soft footprint on the planet. They enjoy its simplicity — though the bach does have a touch of practical sophistication. British furniture designer Max Lamb, a former student of Martino’s, gifted the couple a new loo, in a bold Klein blue resin.
“He made us a beautiful toilet seat for the long drop. It’s really, really fancy, it feels amazing. You sit there and look out at the beauty of the bush,” he says of the simple but stunning designer toilet that brings a little bit of London design chic to the island.
It’s a long way from the mountains in northern Italy where he grew up. In a way, the success of the Circus stool has given Martino the freedom to design the kind of life he wants, by bringing in a stable cash flow. “I didn’t design the stool to make money, it was for a public space. I just wanted to fulfill the brief and facilitate the needs of that community and it was only after it was used and people started asking for it that I realised we could sell it,” he says. “There are different ways to get a product, not all the avenues are about thinking about money, it can also be serving the community, and from that a product can be developed.”
The stool project hit all four elements that fascinate Martino — places, spaces, people and behaviours. “I define myself as a designer because I create objects that are functional but the method I’m using is artistic, in the sense that the artist sets himself or herself their own brief. I set my own boundaries. I use the methodology of the artist to be creative as a designer. The research and the way I approach it is similar to an artist.”
Martino became internationally regarded through a project he did 17 years ago, 100 Chairs in 100 Days. The brief was to make a chair a day for 100 days by collaging bits of old found chairs. By blending their stylistic and structural elements, Martino generated perverse, poetic, and humorous hybrids — each unique.
He studied sculpture under Michelangelo Pistoletto at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, and product design in Vienna under Matteo Thun. He completed a masters in 2000 from the Royal College of Art, London, where he studied under Ron Arad. His achievements are impressive, yet as a boy, he moved through the world in a way that would likely have him labelled as neurodivergent today.
“I guess I would have been diagnosed as having ADHD but it was not recognised as a thing back then. I was not particularly good at school. For me, the issue was motivation. I did not see a point in some subjects. If I was interested, I could focus. School wasn’t my thing but I always liked making objects.”
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Advertise with NZME.Martino left school as soon as he could — 14 is the minimum age in Italy. “I did a foundation course in craft, so I was working with wood, metal and engineering and it gave me an understanding that if I put the energy into the right thing, I could actually make something. That made me decide to do an apprenticeship, and I found a master who would teach me carpentry. And that kind of saved me because I was pretty good at it. I was not the best, but I could solve problems.”
The two years he spent travelling the world in the 90s helped shape his vision for the future and gave him an insight into how he wanted to live. “I saw different cultures and met a lot of creative people. It helped me get away from the preconceived ideas I grew up with. Where I’m from, a small place in northern Italy, it was all about working hard and if you didn’t you were regarded as lazy. I think I was freeing myself of that, observing people and things, and learning a lot. This might not be considered work by some but it’s still something that helps you as a creative person,” says Martino. “Then again, I’m grateful for my upbringing, I’m not shy of work,” he adds.
Great Barrier represents an opportunity for refuge and reflection — a contrast to the busy life Martino and Francis lead in London. “We go out a little bit in London, mostly to (gallery) openings, some restaurants. We both love cooking. We are very social but we do a lot of our entertaining at home,” he says. “In London we work a lot, to be honest. It’s intensive.”
There are also regular visits to Italy to see Martino’s family. He’s one of four children and his dad made a living growing grapes and apples. There are no other artists or designers in his family background. “I do wonder where this came from but if you don’t feel like you fit in, you have to find your own way of doing things and for me that was creativity. In a way, from a handicap, I think good things can come from it.”
For many years, Martino’s international success largely went under the radar in his hometown of Merano. It was only when he was awarded the OBE last year for Services in Design in the King’s Birthday and Coronation Honours List that this changed. “That was big news, so that was noticed. Until then, not that many people apart from friends knew what I was doing.”
When he is in Italy, Martino immerses himself in the local crafts scene. “It’s important to me to maintain good contacts with the region and be part of the creative scene. Now and then I do a bit of mentoring with young people who may be a bit like me — they have done an apprenticeship and want to see if they can expand their careers. It’s a joy working with people who are applying themselves to that artisanal craft work that’s been around for centuries.”
For now, Martino is content to split his time between London, Italy and here. “I like each place for different reasons,” he says. Eventually, he and Francis plan to spend more time in New Zealand, now that they have found their place on Great Barrier. “It’s half an hour from the centre of town to paradise,” says Martino. “I feel like when I’m here, I work differently. I’ve discovered my alter ego.”
The Aotearoa Art Fair is on at the Viaduct Events Centre in Auckland from April 18-21, 2024.
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