VIVID
Gallery presents:
Show 01-07
Chris Kabel
September 30 - 18 November 18, 2007
Kabel
describes his designs as “usable poetics”. They are the result
of a rather clinical dissection of objects and their context which enables
him to
analyze separately function from decoration and shape from material. He
then puts these parts back toghether again in his own way, not unlike
a modern
doctor Frankenstein.
Now
based in Rotterdam, he has studied at the Design Academy of Eindhoven,
where he was noticed by Droog Design. His graduation project the Sticky
Lamp was included in their catalogue in 2002, the beginning of an ongoing
collaboration including commissions and exhibitions. Mooi and
Royal VKB have followed, and some of his products have entered the collections
of the Boijmans van Beuningen, the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam
and the FNAC (french foundation for contemporary art).
Chris
Kabel values his education focused on industrial design, which can account
for his
ability to root his objects in the issues of production and usage. His
productions achieve the balance between sensitive evocations and a statement
on function. He likes to figure out how the decorative aspect can add
new usages to an object. For instance the cut out of lace – until
then purely
ornamental – makes up the pattern of foliage projected by the sun
through his parasol Shadylace.
representative of a process where the inner and more functional structure of an object merges with the decorative outer layer. The raw industrial gas
pipes and gas tank are painted white, and their slender shape conjures a romantic chandelier casting a flickering light. A similar process led to the Tailor Chair. While he was working on an upholstered chair, he discovered that treating the metal as if it was textile, ie to work with pattern pieces and replacing sewing with welding allowed to tailor it in the shape of a chair that looked already upholstered.
Chris Kabel revealed some of his interrogations on the design world with his Black Money Vase. The piece of design appears as a heap of coins, highlighting the tendency of design to be
sometimes driven more by profit than by creation. Here, the decoration reflects and creates the value of the vase.
After taking part in many significant group shows and having had a succesfull show in paris in 2006
(Toolsgalerie), now its time to play a home game in Rotterdam at Vivid Gallery. Mainly an overview of his works until now, the Show 01/07, will
also feature a new cabinet system out of cardboard, used to diplay the items that are on show produced in collaboration with Vivid gallery, aswell as the
latest experiments for Droogdesigns Drytech3 project
