Fordite Cubes

Dimension
18" x 18" x 18" ht.
Lead Time
60 days
Material
MDF treated with PU paint and high-gloss lacquer

Utilising the simple platonic form of a cube (18"x18"x18") as a starting point, we employed a singular formal move to create a family of cubes that can be used for seating purposes or as side tables. Each piece was the result of a diagonal elliptical tube piercing a cube, creating a cantilevered form that allows for a glimpse through the openings created. These openings vary in size, and each defining curve is half an ellipse; these half ellipses are also in contrasting sizes, thus creating a diagonal void-tube. The opening, the void-tube, stretched between two cut-outs from differently-sized ellipses, allows for many permutations and combinations as the size and location of the cut-outs changes.

Inspired by the vivid patterns of Fordite, an agate-like enamel which is a by-product of the automotive industry, the inner curved surface is painted with eight layers of paint and then carefully hand-sanded to reveal these different layers, allowing for many-hued contours to emerge and further animate the void-tube; the outer surface of each remains one smooth colour. The palette included vibrant blue, blueish-green, red and pink-tinted orange, purple and pink, while the exterior is painted in shades of grey -- lighter for the smaller opening and dark grey for the larger one. Customisation of colour may also be availed of and once sanded, the pieces are all lacquered with ten coats of high-gloss varnish.

When placed next to each other the collection as a whole assumes larger shapes, each interestingly a mirror image of the other, but not repetitive. The combinations start forming large constellations of platonic cubes and cuboids, as well as an interior-visual maze of the void-tubes. A cluster of four comes together, forming an oval intersection with the symmetrical loft piercing through, allowing the piece a uniform opening.

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