Stone age: Marc Newson's extraordinary marble furniture is an alchemy that coaxes sensuous line from solid stone.In the early sixteenth century it took Michelangelo three years to chisel and wrest the muscular form of David from its obstinate ob·sti·nate adj. 1. Stubbornly adhering to an attitude, opinion, or course of action. 2. Difficult to alleviate or cure. casing of Carrera marble. Purchased at vast expense by the city authorities, the huge block had been languishing lan·guish intr.v. lan·guished, lan·guish·ing, lan·guish·es 1. To be or become weak or feeble; lose strength or vigor. 2. in Florence's cathedral workshop for 25 years and was widely considered to be unworkable. Happily for art history, Michelangelo proved everyone wrong. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Comparing Australian uber-designer Marc Newson with the Renaissance maestro is perhaps a step too far, but Newson has achieved a similar alchemy of crafting sinuous sinuous /sin·u·ous/ (sin´u-us) bending in and out; winding. sinuous bending in and out; winding. contours from living rock, albeit heavily abetted by the technology of the time and the skills of Italian craftsmen. His latest series of experimental domestic sculptures ('furniture' is way too mundane a term for it) are simply cut from solid lumps of Carrera or Bardiglio marble and then lovingly smoothed, finished and polished. And that's it. No joints, no fiddling, no cheating, no bits stuck on; just the sensuous pleasure of unbroken lines and the cool, veined weightiness of the marble. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Newson enjoys periodically testing the capacities of materials and processes. such 'out there' research advances his accumulation of knowledge and shapes his view of design. More usually associated with a plastic fantastic ethos of Dan Dare streamlining, punky punk·y n. Variant of punkie. Noun 1. punky - minute two-winged insect that sucks the blood of mammals and birds and other insects biting midge, no-see-um, punkey, punkie citrus colours, surfing and air travel, here the dude gets serious. It's just him and the stone. Understandably, the selection of the right block is crucial. The marble must be perfect, with no flaws or faults that might split or deform when worked. The speed and accuracy of the cutting process would astound a·stound tr.v. a·stound·ed, a·stound·ing, a·stounds To astonish and bewilder. See Synonyms at surprise. [From Middle English astoned, past participle of astonen, his Renaissance predecessors. Diamond coated wire scythes through the stone as if it were cheese, and out pops a freshly minted Newson. Though it all sounds effortless, it involves precise judgement, manual skill and an intuitive understanding of the material. Wastage wastage a loss of product or productivity; in terms of animal production includes losses due to deaths of animals, lowered production from survivors, including reproduction, and lost opportunity income. wastage Fetal wastage, see there is high; a 30 ton block of marble yields a half-ton table. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Commissioned by Larry Gagosian, global galleriste and modern-day Medici Medici, Italian family Medici (mĕ`dĭchē, Ital. mā`dēchē), Italian family that directed the destinies of Florence from the 15th cent. until 1737. , the collection of extruded tables, chairs and honeycombed hon·ey·comb n. 1. A structure of hexagonal, thin-walled cells constructed from beeswax by honeybees to hold honey and larvae. 2. Something resembling this structure in configuration or pattern. tr.v. shelving was first shown in his New York salon and is now in London until mid April. Naturally all pieces are strictly single figure limited editions with eye-watering price tags, but given the enduring qualities of marble, they are definitely built to last. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion