A BLANKET AFTER CAMILLE GRAESER

In spring 2025 Galery von Bartha Basel showed the exhibition «Yours, Camille Graeser». The exhibition featured a selection of unpublished works by the Swiss avant-garde artist, designer and interior decorator Camille Graeser (1892-1980).

Camille Graeser's oeuvre includes a large number of drawings for wallpaper, furniture, clothing and decorative fabrics. On the occasion of the exhibition at von Bartha and in collaboration with the Camille Graeser Foundation Zurich, MATRIX has designed and coloured a collection of blankets. The pattern of the blankets is inspired by Camille Graeser's work «Drei progressive Kontraste». Knitted in Switzerland from 100% merino wool and presented in a screen printed box, the blankets can be viewed and purchased in the MATRIX shop Basel and also in our online shop.

Photo Flavia Schaub, Styling Mirjam Strasser
Chair by Camille Graeser for the show flat of the Weissenhofsiedlung Stuttgart 1927, Courtesy of Camille Graeser Foundation

MATRIX PRINTS ONE-OF-A-KIND PIECES

In May 2024, we invited MATRIX customers to choose their own colour combinations for a silk scarf. Three colours were selected from a colour chart featuring 500 shades. We then printed these individual colour combinations once. The one-of-a-kind pieces were as diverse as our customers. From colourful to soft, vibrant to subtle; the wide range of unique scarves delighted MATRIX customers and us alike.

Archive picture from MATRIX Unikate 2024

NOTEBOOKS - Handmade in Basel

In a spirit of neighbourly collaboration between MATRIX and Petite Ourse, the notebook collection was created in Basel. The cover was screen printed by MATRIX with the brand's signature geometric patterns and is available in a wide range of colourways. Petite Ourse designs and prints the endpapers and the bandeau using letterpress on vintage printing presses, and binds the notebooks into beautiful notebooks using colour-coordinated threads. Eighteen different notebooks in two sizes have been created. Their production required a big amount of careful craftsmanship. The result is a collection of true gems, practical everyday companions and exquisite gifts. And what’s more, they are 100% handmade in Basel.

Foto Claudia Diebold, Notebooks MATRIX Basel and Petite Ourse

KLANGFÄCHER

With KLANGFÄCHER (sound chart), Fabia Zindel and Fritz Hauser present a collaborative artistic work that explores the representation of music through colour on the one hand, and the sonic interpretation of colours on the other. This work was created in 2022 as part of the SWEET SPOT exhibition at the Kunsthaus Baselland.

As a textile designer, Fabia Zindel works with colours on a daily basis. In her screen-printing workshop, she has a colour chart she compiled herself, containing over 1300 colours. Fabia Zindel was interested in developing a new colour chart inspired by Fritz Hauser’s music. Fritz Hauser considered responding to the colour chart with a collection of sounds. The approach, which was purely subjective on both sides, quickly gave way to a desire to provide the project with a conceptual framework through a methodical and formally constrained approach.

Fabia Zindel’s textile screen-printing works are always based on the eight primary colours: yellow, orange, scarlet, magenta, blue, turquoise, green and black. Fritz Hauser suggested limiting his range of instruments for this collaborative piece and working exclusively with eight cymbals. Working together, Fabia Zindel and Fritz Hauser assigned one colour to each of the eight selected cymbals. This link between eight sounds and eight colours forms the basis for the subsequent process.

Fabia Zindel mixed 42 colours, each in seven shades of brightness, resulting in a total of 294 hues. Each individual colour follows a formula that encompasses the ratio of the eight primary colours as well as gradual brightening (1:1 to 1:100). Furthermore, each formula relates to its sonic components (cymbals 1-8). Fritz Hauser recorded the cymbals assigned to the colours, mixed them together according to the formulas, and compiled them into a digital sound catalogue. In doing so, he translated the brightness levels into volume: a rich colour shade sounds loud, a pastel colour soft. Fritz Hauser’s sound catalogue, in conjunction with Fabia Zindel’s colour index, forms the KLANGFÄCHER. Manifested in a card index box, it is stocked with colour hues printed on fabric, their colour recipes, and a continuum of the corresponding sounds.

Much like a toolbox, the KLANGFÄCHER provides a foundation for compositions of colour and sound. On the one hand, a colour composition can dictate sequences of sound; on the other hand, the reverse is also possible: the musical composition generates a colour scheme. Both components – sound and colour – can serve as a starting point.

The wall installation features a colour composition by Fabia Zindel. The corresponding sound piece by Fritz Hauser could be heard through headphones.

RHINE MUG

Zoe Vaistij grinds stones. The product designer and ceramicist from Basel has dedicated herself to researching stone glazes. Her research focuses on the production of natural glazes. To this end, Zoe Vaistij sources materials directly from nature and processes them into raw materials for glazes. She grinds the collected stones or sediments in a ball mill, then sifts them into stone powder over several stages. Through extensive testing, she refines the raw materials obtained in this way into glazes for her ceramics.

As part of the MATRIX scarf collection dedicated to the Rhine (2021/22), Zoe Vaistij created an object using stones from the Basel Rhine for our collection. During the floods of summer 2021, a great deal of debris flowed through the riverbed of the Basel Rhine. Once the water level had dropped, deposits of alluvial sand were visible on the banks of the Rhine. Zoe Vaistij collected this sand, ground it and sieved it.

Zoe Vaistij has designed an elegant series of mugs for Matrix, hand-thrown from porcelain in her workshop and finished with a glaze made from alluvial sand from the Rhine in Basel. The cups are currently available to buy in her shop, Keramik Kollektiv.

HEADSCARVES

Since 1985, October has been dedicated worldwide to the prevention, research and treatment of breast cancer. In collaboration with the Krebsliga Graubünden, MATRIX has twice produced a small collection of headscarves, which are provided free of charge to patients undergoing chemotherapy. This project was made possible by the donations raised by charity runners Martin Vincenz (2017) and Christina Wittwer (2023) for the Krebsliga Graubünden. A wonderful idea that we support through our work.

A SCRAF FOR DEPOT BASEL

Depot Basel was founded in 2011 as a place for contemporary design in the former silo on the Erlenmatt site in Basel. To mark the occasion, MATRIX designed an exclusive scarf based on the Depot Basel logo. The limited edition of 100 woollen scarves sold out quickly. The proceeds from the sale of the scarves went towards the running and further development of the project.