Design Map · Eindhoven
This Might Last Forever
Graduation project by Matilde Bovo at Design Academy Eindhoven, 2026. Shown during Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven on Design Map, location F5.
Consumerism dictates endless cycles of producing, buying, using and discarding things at ever-increasing speeds, following a logic of constant desire for the new. In this system, artisan objects have also become status symbols rather than everyday objects, losing their aura of authenticity.
Applying a critical approach to her own practice with clay, Matilde Bovo reflects on this contradiction. Clay is a material that could potentially last millennia after firing, but that requires repeated trials and errors to refine.
‘This Might Last Forever’ turns this reflection into a physical experience and a test for the public. Unfired clay vases, placed in the rain machine, are offered for purchase for a limited time, after which they are slowly destroyed by water. The destruction of the object can be halted by the audience, who in turn purchases it, deciding how it will be completed by the maker, thus taking responsibility for its existence.