The Instant of Change | A research journey into matter, from 2021 to 2026

The Instant of Change: six editions, one ongoing research into matter

Since 2021, The Instant of Change has accompanied Mo.1950’s journey as a space for research dedicated to the transformation of matter. Edition after edition, the project has brought together Ceramiche Caesar, QuadroDesign, and Rexa in an ongoing dialogue between production process, perception, and expressive languages.

For Rexa, this journey has meant far more than a presence within Fuorisalone. It has been a ground for exchange where Corian® could be understood not only as a technical material, but as a sensitive, plastic, relational, and narrative presence. Over six years, the research has moved through objects, images, taste, sound, and recomposed fragments, while keeping one underlying question constant: at what moment does matter change, and how does that passage become visible?

The foundations of the journey

The first editions, between 2021 and 2022, define the conceptual framework of The Instant of Change as a research project focused on transformation, process, and the possibility of narrating matter through ever changing languages. From the outset, the project took shape as an open space for observation and interpretation, intended to evolve over the years that followed.

This approach is also significant for Rexa, because it lays the groundwork for understanding material not only in functional terms, but also as a cultural and sensory presence. Matter is never treated as a neutral surface: it is memory of making, technical knowledge, and form in transformation.

2023: Tris and matter as relationship

With Tris, designed by Finemateria, The Instant of Change enters a fully tactile and participatory dimension. Three noble materials, Corian®, porcelain stoneware, and steel, come together in a single object, conceived to be touched, used, and shared.

For Rexa, the contribution takes shape in Corian®, worked into a soft, thermoformed, and ethereal presence, able to contrast with the rigidity of stoneware and to engage in dialogue with the precision of steel. It is an important step, because it shows how matter can become relationship: not only a form to be observed, but an experience to be lived.

2024: design becomes edible

With How do materials taste?, The Instant of Change takes an unexpected turn and brings matter into the realm of taste. The chromatic and material qualities of the brands involved merge into large scale edible works created by Alessandra Pallotta.

In this edition, transformation is not only observed, but experienced directly through the senses. Matter becomes a shareable form, a multisensory experience, a memory. For Rexa too, this is a significant chapter, because the project expands the concept of material beyond its physical presence and brings it into a more evocative and perceptual dimension.

2025: The Sound of Matter

In 2025, the research opened up to the sonic dimension with The Sound of Matter. Design met music in a live experience curated by Luca A. Caizzi, featuring a musical selection by Marta Oliva and the visual imagination of Gabriele Zagaglia.

Stoneware, Corian®, and steel were interpreted as a material symphony, capable of evoking rhythm, density, atmosphere, and presence. For Rexa, this marked a further shift in meaning: the material was no longer only form or surface, but vibration, listening, and resonance. Matter entered an immersive and sensitive reading, without losing its own concreteness.

2026: Fragmenta and the persistence of matter

With Fragmenta. The Recomposed Instant, The Instant of Change reaches its sixth edition and addresses a particularly significant theme: what remains of matter when the production process comes to an end.

In this chapter, Rexa’s Corian® fragments, QuadroDesign’s stainless steel remnants, and Caesar’s ceramic powders leave behind their role as leftover material to become the protagonists of new compositions. Through care, rearrangement, and photographic printing, the residue is suspended and recomposed into two dimensional forms that do not conceal their past, but celebrate it.

For Rexa, Fragmenta clearly affirms a central principle: even what remains retains memory, value, and formal potential. The end of an industrial cycle thus becomes the beginning of a new aesthetic presence.

A journey aligned with Rexa’s vision

Viewed as a whole, The Instant of Change tells the story of a coherent evolution. Over six years, the project has changed languages and forms, yet remained constant at its core: investigating matter as a living reality, capable of transforming and generating new relationships.

For Rexa, this journey confirms a design culture in which technique, sensitivity, and saper fare move forward together. Material is never only a constructive solution, but an opportunity for research, interpretation, and form. This is where the project truly meets saper fare: in the ability to accompany every transformation without diminishing it, recognizing in each passage a new possibility.

From 2021 to 2026

Objects, images, taste, sound, fragments. Over the years, The Instant of Change has built a shared narrative in which matter never coincides with a definitive state, but always remains open to transformation.

For Rexa, taking part in this journey has meant reaffirming a clear vision: to design also means to question matter, to listen to its possibilities, and to give it new forms without losing its connection to making.