Artist Name:
Ron Arad
Nationality & Life Dates:
British, born 1951
Title:
Blo-Void I
Date:
2006
Medium:
Mirror-polished aluminum alloy and anodized woven-aluminum mesh
Dimensions:
40 x 80 x 17 inches
Credit Line:
Purchase through prior acquisition from Beth and Sam Scarboro in loving memory of Grace and Dewey D. Scarboro, and bequests of Kate Session Marsh and Mrs. Norman Powell Pendley
Accession Number:
2007.121
On View - Stent Family Wing, Skyway Level, Gallery 410
One of the most influential contemporary designers today, London based Ron Arad has been an important critical influence on design since the 1980s, when England emerged as a vital contributor to the field. With its sculptural vitality, this futuristic looking chair furthers Arad's exploration of volume that began in the 1990s. Its striking form was made possible by technological developments in computer assisted design. The polished, reflective sides are made from a super plastic aluminum alloy that has been blown into a mold using an air pressure technique developed for the aerospace industry. The seat and back, or "belt," as Arad calls it, is made of woven aluminum wire tinted blue through the anodization process, the designer's first experimentation in the use of color on metal.