Metal is not commonly associated with naturalness. The fact that organic material and hard, shiny surfaces are in no way mutually exclusive is proven by Helga Tauer with her highly individual galvanizing business. Electrical current is used to apply a metal coating to items brought in by customers, everything from plants to sports equipment. The haptic and optical qualities of surfaces and their sensuous influence on our interactions with objects was explored by Teresa Berger at last year’s VIENNA DESIGN WEEK. She presented a collection of unusual objects to be used for eating. The designer also employed this fine sense when dealing with subtle surface qualities while working with electroplater Helga Tauer. Together, they devote themselves to a problem for nature created
by our consumer culture: pollution of the oceans and the dying of coral. And so, metallized single-use plastic was turned into poetic monuments to the oceans’ diversity of forms.