Timor, Enzo Mari, 1967

My final blog celebrating MoDiP’s recent Enzo Mari acquisitions is all about the Timor perpetual calendar, which we received on Tuesday 19^th January 2021 - see image below (I just couldn’t resist trying it out!).

Image ref: MoDiP’s Timor perpetual calendar.
Image credit: Katherine Pell

MoDiP has several other examples of perpetual calendars adopting either a system of dials to rotate the correct day/month into a viewing window or including a selection of different sized cards, printed with the relevant information. The first method can be fiddly to operate (some of the mechanics are quite small and stiff) whilst the second is challenging if the individual cards get muddled or lost. Mari’s design combines elements of both methods and in so doing, ends up being far more functional.

Originally designed in 1967, it was released by Danese that same year and is still in production today, available in Italian, English, French and German language versions.

Believed to have been inspired by railway signs, it uses the Helvetica sans-serif typeface on a series of lithographed polyvinyl chloride (PVC) cards representing each day, week and month. These are fixed to a central point so that they can be easily flipped into place as appropriate (see image below).

Image ref: Side view showing the cards on the pivot point.
Image credit: Katherine Pell

Originally available in black, white and green, the body of the calendar is made of injection moulded acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) – MoDiP’s example is in the lovely green (not available today).

Image ref: Maker’s mark on the bottom of the calendar.
Image credit: Katherine Pell

The sleek, sculptural form is intended to be instinctive in use and will never become obsolete, sitting well with today’s expectation for sustainability in design, despite it being over fifty years old. It is a wonderful piece to add to the collection, accompanying two of Enzo Mari’s other notable works, the Pago Pago vase and 16 animali.

Katherine Pell
Collections Officer

References

https://borealabode.com/timor-calendar

https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18648913/

https://www.danesemilano.com/en/history_1957_1969

https://www.danesemilano.com/en/productDetails?idProduct=50

https://www.moma.org/collection/works/1692

https://www.si.edu/object/timor:chndm_1994-59-2

https://www.smow.com/blog/2020/10/enzo-mari-curated-by-hans-ulrich-obrist-with-francesca-giacomelli-at-the-triennale-milano-milan/