28 November 2014

Ron Arad is an extraordinary creator of continuous forms. He has been so from the outset, when he used to assemble bent, welded and modeled sheets of metal at his One Off studio in London to make objects that were highly reminiscent of the world of sculpture, but without renouncing comfort and practicality. His encounter with Moroso has pulled off the difficult feat of translating that research into high-end mass production. The Victoria and Albert series was created in 2000, in homage to the retrospective of the Israeli designer’s work held at the historic museum in London, and is a clear synthesis of the union between art and technology. Whether the product is a sinuous couch or a snug little armchair, the continuity of its volume remains the fixed point. The materials, on the other hand, can be extremely varied: a steel core covered with fiberglass and padding upholstered in fabric for the couch, which resembles a great Möbius strip. Polyethylene for the Little Albert armchair, suitable for both indoor and outdoor use. However the element from which they are generated remains a line drawn without ever lifting the pencil from the sheet of paper. After all, the symbol of infinity is an eight laid on its side which has neither a beginning nor an end, and Arad knows this very well.