Hawtin was also credited, as Plastikman, on the soundtrack for Pradasphere II in Shanghai in 2023
Richie Hawtin has returned to his Plastikman alias to create the soundtrack for Prada’s new Pradasphere exhibition in Milan.
The British-Canadian artist has produced multiple soundtracks for the exhibition at the Prada Galleria, with a different composition designed for each room.
“Music is an invisible force that resonates as much with our emotions as with the architecture it inhabits,” Hawtin shared. “For Pradasphere, the Plastikman soundscapes use subtle frequencies and rhythms, felt as much as heard, to extend Prada’s aesthetic into a sonic presence that moves with the visitor through the spaces and history of the house.”
Hawtin’s collaboration with Prada is part of an ongoing relationship between the producer and the Italian fashion house. In 2023, he created the soundtrack for retrospective exhibition Pradasphere II in Shanghai, also working under his Plastikman alias. Some of the material from that project has since been reworked for the Milan exhibition.
Hawtin has also scored five Prada runway shows since 2021 and been the creative force behind Prada Extends, the brand’s music and culture programme developed in collaboration with the producer. The programme debuted at Tate Modern before travelling to Tokyo, Miami and Bangkok.
The upcoming Pradasphere exhibition is directed by Miuccia Prada inside Milan’s Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II on the site where Fratelli Prada first founded the brand in 1913.
In May, Richie Hawtin released the Bullfrog, a new drum machine in collaboration with Erica Synths that aims to be an educational tool for honing drum programming skills.
