Designs in Resin
Plastic fantastic
Working with epoxy resin is a bit like making jelly. It comes in a liquid form which turns solid once it has been combined with a curing agent and can be poured into moulds to create different shapes. It can be used to fill gaps and create smooth surfaces, a process used for example to transform pieces of driftwood into table tops. It is also used by hobbyists to entomb small mementoes to create decorative trophies and jewellery. The movie Jurassic Park is premised on the idea of a dinosaur blood-sucking mosquito that had been preserved in resin, though in real life you should steer clear of setting organic matters in resin unless you wish to watch them rot inside their little plastic tombs. Designers are also drawn to the creative possibilities of resin, in particular the ease of creating different shapes and their luminous finishes.
The grand daddy of resin design is undoubtedly Gaetano Pesce, the ground-breaking architect and designer who pioneered the use of resin in furniture. His Fish Design collaboration with Italian brand Corsi includes a large collection of vases, tableware and furniture characterised by bright colours and childlike shapes. The resin they use cures to a soft, bendy consistency but with a glossy sheen that resembles glass. A good party trick is to drop a Fish Design vase on the floor and watch your guests’ expressions turn from shock to relief as they realise the vase is made of bouncy resin rather than glass.
Multidisciplinary designers Draga Obradovic and Aurel K. Basedow, better known as Draga & Aurel, are fascinated by transparency in art and design. This led them to explore the creative potential of resin, attracted by its luminous quality and vibrant colours. Their Transparency Matters collection of tables and lights combine minimalist shapes, op-art inspired colours and a retro space age vibe to great effect. I especially like the jelly-shaped Bon Bon collection of coffee tables. Draga & Aurel have also experimented with combining resin with concrete, showcasing the rough texture of the latter through the colourful, transparent lens of the former.
Artist and designer Laurids Gallee is another leading proponent of contemporary resin design, expressing his creativity through the form, colour and finish of this versatile material. He has created a series of monumental lights in resin with smooth rounded shapes inspired by boulders, lit from within to create an ethereal glow. These are beautifully artistic pieces with an almost meditative quality, as you would expect from a creator who is as much an artist as a designer.
A big draw for designers to resin is how it can create infinite gradations of transparency, colour and luminosity. Design studio Objects of Common Interest, for example, acquired a secret recipe for creating resin with a unique iridescent finish and used it to create the Poikilos collection of chairs and objects with a pearlescent milky transparency.
Other designers like Ian Alistair Cochran focus on colour, casting resin to create bulbous tables in playful shades.
Big brands are in on the act too. Bathroom specialist Antonio Lupi formulated a highly resistant, high gloss coloured resin christened Cristalmood, which they used to create translucent bathtubs that make you feel as if you were soaking in a Venetian wine glass.
Resin also offers designers the freedom to experiment with different techniques. Multi-disciplinary designer and architect Payam Askari takes offcuts of marble and sets them within slabs of resin, which is then used to create the structural support of the MT Shelving System. The material resembles terrazzo but with an intriguing 3D layering effect, with shards of marble floating within the blocks of resin.
Korean artist and designer Seungjin Yang uses balloons as the building blocks of his creations, fascinated by the ease with which their shapes can be changed and their perception of frailty. For his Blowing series of furniture he inflates balloons into different shapes before coating them with multiple layers of resin in vibrant colours. Once the shapes have hardened they are attached together with further coats of resin to create chairs that resemble balloon toys. These are strong enough to sit on, despite their delicate shapes, and are reminiscent of the Balloon series of artworks by Jeff Koons. The fact that Koons’ balloon Rabbit holds the record for the most expensive sculpture sold at auction by a living artist (a snip at USD 91 million) bodes well for Yang, whose resin works have been on show in multiple museums across the world. This shows that perhaps it is the child-like quality and joyful colours of resin that make it so irresistible.
For more beautifully artistic creations visit us on www.do-shop.com.
A happy clock from Corsi / Gaetano Pesce is a MUST for any ... happy kitchen ! ⏰😃