Recycled copper reins in OBJ-05-06-07-08-09-11-12 at Objects With Narratives

Objects With Narratives presents OBJ-05-06-07-08-09-11-12, the first solo exhibition by Valencia-born artist and designer Manuel Bañó, now based in Mexico City. The show forms part of the ongoing OBJ series, a body of product design pieces structured as a string of sequentially numbered pieces that explore how material, form and utility intersect.

The design exhibition presents works made from a single material: recycled copper. “Rather than a finished collection of objects, the project is understood as an open investigation into the physical and expressive capacities of copper, pushed to its limits through artisanal processes. Each piece results from a transformation: the copper is worked through fire and hammer, without industrial mediation,” Object With Narratives notes in the official release.

In the contemporary designer’s practice, the hammer functions as an instrument and language. Repeated strikes compress and stabilise the metal, allowing sculptural forms to emerge. “Formally, the works originate from elemental geometries and develop as an extension of drawing into space. The objects can be read as materialised traces, where precision does not rely on machinery but on the control of the process. Rather than being understood as isolated pieces, the works operate as a system of variations,” the Belgium-based design gallery notes.

Produced between the renowned copper-working town of Santa Clara del Cobre in Michoacán and Valle de Chalco in Mexico, the exhibition situates Bañó’s work within a contemporary design framework where traditional techniques remain vital and forward-looking. “In this context, copper ceases to be a support to become the essence of the project,” Objects With Narratives concludes.