In this book (Spector Books, 2023) and installation, artist David Bergé constructs an imagined catalog for the ubiquitous commercial Italian firm Bialetti. After humble beginnings in the workshops of three brothers in northern Italy, the Bialetti company, under Alfonso Bialetti’s son Renato, industrialized the production of their aluminum stovetop coffee-makers and sold over 300 million units worldwide. Producing variants of his product to beat competitors, the controversial entrepreneur never kept records, prototypes or archives. In this void, David Bergé began gathering Bialettis from flea markets and flagship stores. This book is Bergé’s proposal of what a Bialetti catalog might look like. It provides insights into the production process of a piece of precision engineering, nourished by the voices of Bialetti family members, as well as former factory workers, secretaries and union representatives.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DAVID BERGÉ: BIALETTI A CATALOGUE
80 pages, 50 x 70 cm (pre-industrial version)

80 pages, 16 x 23 cm (industrial version)
published by Spector Books, 2023
ISBN 9783959057592

credits
David Bergé (concept, author)
Sara Cattin (research assistant)
Cameron Fullmer (drawings)
Lyosha Kritsouk (graphic design)
Patrick Pollmeyer (studio photography)
Sophia Holland (copy-editing and proofreading)
ScanColor Reprostudio (lithography)
Gutenberg Beuys (printing)
Spector Books (publisher)

production supported by
Design Museum Gent, The Museum of Anthropocene Technology (MAT, Varese, Italy), Grassi Museum of Applied Arts Leipzig, Flanders State of the Art, Platform 0090, and PHOTOGRAPHIC EXPANDED PUBLISHING ATHENS.

The collection of David Bergé consists of 62 Bialetti machines, which were exhibited as an installation, along with the pre-industrial version of this book and a transportation crate originating from the Bialetti factory. Installation views upon request. 

press:
Léo Bourdin in Le Monde
Laura Ewert in Monopol Magazin or >> PDF here <<
Kais Harrabi in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

presentations:
Design Museum Gent (Oct 21 – Nov 19, 2023)
Grassi Museum of Applied Arts Leipzig (Nov 7, 2023 – Feb 18, 2024)
SPAZIO Architecture Gallery and Bookshop, Milano (May 11, 2024)
Museum of Anthropocene Technology (MAT), Laveno (VA, Italy) (May 18 – June 2, 2024)

acknowledgements
Alberto Alessi, Evelien Bracke, Guido Callens, Sabine Epple, Anne König, Karen Marta, Frank Raes, Isaline Raes, Adrian Sauer, Peter Schmidt

pictures
Spector Books, Felix Bielmeier, Patrick Pollmayer, Michiel De Cleene