Medico dell’aria — Doppia Firma

Tethered to the traditions of a floating city, Il Medico dell’Aria pulls on an ironic sense of pragmatism from the annals of Venice’s plague-ridden history. Inspired by the 17th-century masks of the “medici della peste” (plague doctors) and their long, beak-like noses filled with herbs to filter out airborne diseases, the pieces made for Doppia Firma and an exhibit at Homo Faber come as light artifacts with a morbid message. Updated with both a contemporary vocabulary and vocation, the masks are carried into the 21st century through simple, sharp lines and regulation smog filters, which signal the arrival of a new kind of plague: pollution.

To bring the project to life, Tabet collaborated with master maskmaker and Venetian staple, Sergio Boldrin (of La Bottega dei Mascareri), whose work has been featured in films like “Eyes Wide Shut”. There, in a Venetian bottega, Boldrin’s expertise helped guide what would become a modern day mask commenting on history’s cyclical nature.

Papier-mâché and plastic