This series, COLLECTIBLE In-Depth, unveils the backstage of contemporary creation. Tackling various topics from personal designer processes to the position of collectible design on the global design market, COLLECTIBLE In-Depth offers different views to suit all tastes. Today we speak with GENOS.

C: Can you talk about the designers you’re presenting at COLLECTIBLE this year, and what makes their practices or pieces unique?

GENOS: GENOS is a collective of people who share the same interests, as if they all had the same mentor—like a figurative great-grandfather. This collective is composed of Monads associated with numbers and colors. Some of them are not even aware of Genos' existence or their contribution to our brand. Yet, directly or indirectly, all of these Monads have influenced me and contributed to the collective’s growth. 

GENOS was created to provide maximum opportunities for young, not-yet-established individuals to express themselves, to believe in their dreams, and to avoid competing— especially with the deceased! These days, big brands tend to collaborate with established artists, or worse, with the archives of those who have passed away. Can you imagine? It's likely because business is business, and it’s easier to sell already popular names. A prime example of this is the fashion world. Since many fashion brands now also create furnishings, art objects, and even spoons and plates, they should consider collaborating with and promoting new talents, not just those who are already well-known. This practice is counterproductive for the upcoming generation, who constantly see the names of artists from the '70s and '80s next to brand names. 

Therefore, GENOS serves as a label for all kinds of creatives—professionals, non professionals, amateurs, and even those who can only write with a pen and lack other skills. The less prepared you are in this area, the more naturally your talent will manifest within our collective. 

**MOVE THE FOCUS FROM AUTHORS TO CREATIONS IN THE DESIGN DISCOURSE TO BUILD A NEW MOVEMENT THAT INSTILLS A SENSE OF COLLECTIVE BELONGING AND ENCOURAGES YOUNGER GENERATIONS.** 

**OUR PLURALITY OF VOICES IS REFLECTED IN THE HETEROGENEITY OF OUR PRODUCTS:**

We don’t believe in a consistent aesthetic but in one that is diverse and supportive— one that considers each of our unique perspectives on the world. Our approach breaks conventions, blending the old and the new. It is informed by a variety of contemporary expressions and street culture. 

Every creation is different from the next, contributing to an ever-changing and dynamic identity. Our products are entirely made in Italy, giving new and lasting form to the highest quality materials. GENOS is a species, a lineage, a generation, a tribe.

C: How does your approach to contemporary collectible design reflect current cultural or societal trends? How can collectible design represent or react to current societal, political, or economic questions? How do you see the relationship between late 20th-century design and contemporary design? How do they influence each other? 

G: We definitely do not follow trends; instead, we focus on elevating cultural or societal issues that concern us through the objects we create. However, the drop 1 that we will present at COLLECTIBLE strongly reflect these themes. The goal of GENOS is very similar to the original goal of art: to be useful, not just aesthetic.

By "useful," I don't mean from a technical or functional standpoint, but rather from the motivation to better understand oneself, the world, today's problems, and how humanity is structured. I believe art should not only provide aesthetic pleasure but also draw attention to pressing issues—whether social, political, or personal. In short, we use our objects to raise different arguments; each object stands as a representation of our thoughts, with a mission to transmit a message. You’ll have a short description, but the rest is for you to interpret. That’s what art does—it prompts reflection. 

How do our colleagues want to be remembered? By color, paint, form? Aesthetic is an inseparable part of art, obviously. But aesthetic without a clear message equals zero. 

Returning to the question of anonymity, to be frank, it hasn’t been easy. Not easy for me, but for the collective. There were disagreements among us. Some Monads wanted publicity, and of course, I have no moral right to limit their expression. But at this stage, as the founder, maintaining anonymity was the only way for me to remain effective and not counterproductive as the creative director of Genos. In the modern world, it’s impossible to hide one's identity because the world is so interconnected. You can easily find someone’s full name, and that’s already significant. This model was important for me to create a horizontal structure within our collective. People’s perception works in such a way that when you present your name alongside your objects, they remember your name first, often overlooking the objects themselves. 

How many people can distinguish between Kandinsky’s Composition No. 4 and Composition No. 5? Many will simply say "Kandinsky" and that’s it. We always play on the psychological aspect of how objects are perceived. We urge people to care, to celebrate, to contemplate, or to rejoice in the meanings embedded in each object. Anonymity greatly assists in this, allowing for less focus on our egos and more on what we do and convey. 

Since it’s difficult for us to explain our philosophy briefly, we wrote a book, *GENOS Vol. 1*. Conceptually, the book is called *HOW's & WHY's of GENOS* and includes contributions from many professionals who understand and move within this space better than we do. Stay tuned for the launch!

C: How do you discover new designers? What tips would you give to young designers who wish to focus their practice on collectible design?

G: I (Monad 11 - Founder) created Genos primarily as a label for young talents, with the goal of mentoring them. My roots are in Azerbaijan, where it’s nearly impossible for young people to become designers or architects because those careers are not considered prestigious. This issue deeply concerns me, which is why I founded Genos. I reflected this problem in our iconic product, the “How Dare You” chair. The chair stemmed from the recognition of each individual’s multi-faceted personality, attitude, and interests from early childhood. It’s dedicated to those working in jobs or living lives they never chose or desired. It’s for those who lacked the opportunity or courage to choose due to the many “buts” they encountered. The chair is a tribute to the “never-realised children,” the so-called “wasted talents.” 

I (Monad 11 - Founder) moved to Italy quite some time ago and was fortunate to build a strong network, through which I gradually found my collective. I’m happy that they embraced the “faceless concept” as well. 

Honestly, it’s sad to see Italian universities educating the new generation with outdated ideas and techniques. They focus on creating a sense of awe only for past generations of designers, while neglecting new movements, such as collectible design. Young talents need freedom, not boundaries—exactly what collectible design offers. They graduate from university afraid to think, create, and explore. Their thoughts and abilities are restricted. My dream is for Genos to become a large, three-floor building: the first floor a showroom, the second a laboratory, and the third a production space—where young (and not only young) people can come to draw, communicate, experiment, make mistakes, learn, and express themselves freely, without limitations. 

Here’s to everyone who believes that yesterday is not necessarily tomorrow. I want to emphasize that, as a label, we intentionally created a "Join Us" button on our website, Genos-design.com, because we always welcome new minds to our team, even those without any background in design or art. Let’s keep in touch! 

Try, test, and never stop at just one idea! This is my message to all the young boys and girls starting out today. Ideas are dynamic; a concept can fly away and suddenly land on someone else, which is not necessarily a bad thing. 

C: How do you question or challenge functionality in your design process?

G: In the very beginning we’ve been worried a lot about it, especially me (Monad 11 - founder) because of my architectural background, but afterwards we are not focused on it at all. In First drop that we gonna present at collectible is made out of 5 very different pieces with its own character, the production is very limited to number 10 for each unique object. When the first drop gonna be sold out we will never produce more object from drop 1. We put in our object more then “design” actually we hate word “design” and try to never use it in our practice. We put in objects more than aesthetic or functionality we put idea/worries/messages. Those are main characteristics of ART. Fortunately ART doesn’t think at all about functionality, so there is no reason to be worried about functionality. 

In addition we made a rule: “We believe in freedom and participation; we seek for the stakeholder’s partaking in our creative process with the 80%-20% principle of imagination”. We finished our objects only on 80% on purpose. We give absolute freedom to our clients/collectors/funs to imagine those 20% to complete the article and they are totally free to think about the functionality if they want to. So if they want to imagine 6 of our “How dare you” chairs as a dining chairs and put them all around a family table have nice talks and enjoy the dinner they are very welcome to do that, or for example imagine our “future” stool as a bedside table and put their favorite hand cream or noisy alarm before going to sleep there, why not?! We give them total freedom in those 20%.

C: How did you get into collectible design? Why did you focus your practice on this type of design rather than industrial design? 

G: I would sum it up as an interest in people’s emotions. Each of us is made in our own way, with unique imaginations and emotional contributions. For example, I think of our Scattered Minds coffee table. This piece captures how our minds work. A scattered person would never make a good lawyer—their clients might end up in jail due to their lack of discipline, if you know what I mean. 

I’m fascinated by studying how the human brain works, and how the mind of a philosopher differs from that of a banker. Sometimes, I refer to myself as Me/Him/Her/She to emphasize my multiple personalities and the wide range of emotions I experience. As a child, I would constantly lose my gloves, caps, and hats, prompting my grandmother to ask, “What have you lost this time?” This was probably because I was very distracted, a bit detached from real life, always floating in my own imaginary world. Who knows, maybe deep down, I was already dreaming about GENOS, or imagining some kind of mirror, table, or other object. Whatever it was, it happened unconsciously, without me realizing it. 

Since our production is based in Milan, one of the most common questions we hear is, “Why doesn’t Genos participate in Salone del Mobile?” It might sound intolerant, but I personally believe that Salone del Mobile doesn’t offer any real opportunity for young designers to showcase themselves amidst the chaos of the ‘Brianzolos’ (industrial companies originally from the Brianza region). 

Moreover, the Salone is directly linked to the current state of Italian design, which, in our opinion, is in a rather poor phase. There is little attention given to emerging designers. Big platforms are dominated by big brands, and no investors are interested in supporting young designers. Let’s not forget that participating in the Salone is an expensive endeavor. Milan has very few platforms where emerging designers can exhibit, and almost nothing to offer for collectible items. Alcova is probably the closest to a platform for collectible design, but it still has much room for improvement. 

We strongly believe in solo shows that don’t necessarily coincide with large industrial fairs. The Salone is absolutely not the right venue for collectible art and design; it’s more suited for industrial purposes. At this point, we are considering Genos's participation only in highly focused collectible design-art fairs. Since we are dealing with highly emotional and intellectual products, we are very selective about where we present our work.