FLAME SPRAYED
Metall und Holz sind einander nicht fremd. Eisennägel halten seit Jahrhunderten Holzstücke zusammen. Aber was passiert, wenn diese uralte Verbindung aus einer mechanischen zu einer alchemistischen Einheit wird? Die Antwort liegt nicht in der mittelalterlichen Zauberei, sondern in einem industriellen Hightech-Verfahren. Das Metallflammspritzen geht auf Beobachtungen zurück, als Munition mit den Objekten verschmolz, auf die sie abgefeuert wurde, und hat sich zu einer Technik entwickelt, die in spezialisierten Werkstätten vor allem für den Korrosionsschutz von Metallen eingesetzt wird. Bei der Arbeit mit einem Metallsprüher fielen mir die Holzabschnitte auf, die als Träger für die besprühten Objekte verwendet wurden, sie wirkten wie metallisiert.
Der Spiegel, die Lampe und der Hocker der Serie FLAME SPRAYED reflektieren die hybriden Eigenschaften des Materials: Eine spiegelartig polierte Holzmaserung, ein in Stücke geschnittener Balken mit offenen Enden und eine leitfähige Holzoberfläche, die als Schalter fungiert.
FLAME SPRAYED
Metal and wood are no strangers to each other. Iron nails have been holding pieces of wood together for centuries. But what happens when this age-old bond gets transforms from a mechanical to an alchemical unison? The answer doesn't come from medieval wizardry but from a high-tech industrial process. Metal Flame Spraying dates back to observations, when ammunition fused with the objects it was fired at, developed into a technique that sits tucked away in specialised workshops primarily used for metal corrosion protection. Working with a metal-sprayer, I noticed the sacrificial wood offcuts being used as supports for the sprayed objects, and was caught by their unexpected appeal when seemingly metallified.
The mirror, lamp and stool of the series FLAME SPRAYED reflect the hybrid properties of the material: A mirror-like polished wood grain, a beam cut into pieces with open ends and a conductive wooden surface that acts as a switch.
Mein Projekt FLAME SPRAYED hat im Afterfire Seminar WS22/23 begonnen (Januar 2023 Projekt start) und ist danach zu einem freien Projekt geworden, an dem ich jetzt noch arbeite.
Birch Chair follows a holistic approach and combines modern and traditional birch processing methods. Seats are molded and glued in the same way as the main use of birch wood today in veneer panels. All legs are milled.
Wood joints are clued with birch pitch created from the bark by thermal energy of the smaller knots.
The resulting black outlines on the iconic round joints are an analogy to a traditional way of working with fire as a tool.
Beschreibung (en)
Birch Chair follows a holistic approach and combines modern and traditional birch processing methods. Seats are molded and glued in the same way as the main use of birch wood today in veneer panels. All legs are milled.
Wood joints are clued with birch pitch created from the bark by thermal energy of the smaller knots.
The resulting black outlines on the iconic round joints are an analogy to a traditional way of working with fire as a tool.
Vivian Reuter explores in her project the perhaps uncomfortable reality that we, primarily in the global north, are burning trash as a form of energy.
Known as “waste-to-energy”, the process of burning municipal waste to generate energy has grown rapidly across Europe as a solution to our waste problem. The incineration of trash in countries like the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany is often portrayed through technological lenses as the exact opposite of its chaotic waste input: orderly, efficient, and clean. Incineration plants designed by prestigious names like Bjarke Ingels paint the image that this energy source is rightfully part of our new energy transition.
Perhaps unusually, waste incineration is largely considered a form of renewable energy, helping nations achieve climate targets. This should raise some eyebrows given that within the incinerated trash are large amounts of petroleum based products, such as plastics. Notably, about 1.1 tonnes of CO2 is emitted per tonne of trash; this is nearly 70M tonnes of CO2 emitted in the EU per year.
Reuter chooses to draw attention to this contentious space through the exploration of the iconic plastic outdoor chair.
By the mutilation of the iconic, playful plastic forms using fire, Reuter creates pieces that are at once attractive and repulsive— the smell and look of burnt plastic inherently makes us think of pollution and even the developing world where images of burning trash abound, such as Ghana’s Agbogbloshie dump. Reuters works seems to challenge waste incineration as having an element of absurdity by transforming the chairs into altogether different objects such as candles, and through the use of a domestic object, reminds us of the cost of our daily activities that are saturated in systems of consumption.