Kepler-186f 通訊椅 by Alexandr Strepetov is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2019 A' Design Award 銀獎 in 美術設計 Competition Category.

銀美術· 2019

Kepler-186f 通訊椅

by Alexandr Strepetov

Client: Alexandr Strepetov

A' Design Award 銀獎 Winner in 美術 Category

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Colors

The Design

About Kepler-186f 通訊椅

開普勒186f扶手椅的結構基礎是一個烤架，用鋼絲焊接而成，在橡木套的幫助下，將橡木雕刻的元件固定在烤架上。電樞的各種選擇與木雕和珠寶首飾元素融為一體。該藝術品代表了將不同的美學原理結合起來的實驗。可以將其描述為“野蠻式或新巴洛克式”，其中結合了粗糙和精緻的形式。即興創作的結果是，開普勒變成了多層建築，被潛台詞和新細節所包圍。

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award 銀獎

Kepler-186f 通訊椅是 A' Design Award 銀獎得主，這是授予頂級、華美而令人印象深刻的設計的極為崇高的認可。銀獎得主是極其卓越、極具創造力的作品，展現出其設計師傑出的專業技能、才華與敏銳。預計Kepler-186f 通訊椅將成為一件出色的典範之作，兼具非凡的專業性與深刻的創新性。這件贏得 A' Design Award 銀獎的設計是一項備受矚目、令人欽佩的發明，造福並拓展藝術、科學、設計和技術的界限。Kepler-186f 通訊椅是一件令人羨慕的創作，它喚起渴望，帶來積極的情感，並激發驚嘆與讚嘆。

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: This is both a piece of furniture and a complex sculpture, the body of which combines natural forms and futuristic structures achieved with different manufacturing processes. Monolithic parts are synergistically combined with a naked skeleton structure, revealing the beauty of both the external and the interior parts that are usually hidden.
Dimensions & Packaging: width 760mm. length 840mm. height 1070mm.
Tags: Arm-chair, furniture, furniture design, author furniture, wood carving, sculpture, wire articles, metal construction
Production Technology: Structurally, the main part of the armchair consists from steel wire 2-3 mm in diameter, intersections of main wire wrapped with thinner wire and soldered with tin alloy. Attached to the wire carcass are wrought brass bushings that are soldered with silver. They hold decorative elements, along with armrests and legs, hand carved from solid oak and finished with variety of paints and lacquers. The wooden seat cover is stitched, designed to be easily removed, while material on the seat back is affixed.
Design Challenge: The improvisational nature of the project leads me to the experimentation. In the beginning I only had upper part of the chair in my mind. Therefore, I had to work on feet with chair being inverted, which initially seemed like an obstacle, but later it helped formed the end design. Absence of access to welding, led me to seek structural rigidity in woven construction techniques, in wire crossing and wire ties, which eventually opened my eyes to the beauty, strength and awe-inspiring opportunities that arose from seemingly simplistic solutions.

I work in a common workshop together with other artists. If I had opened to them my plan, I would risk losing such necessary courage and inspiration, and start doubting under the pressure of their reasoning. The fact that I put aside another almost ready to sell commercial object for the sake of the tin soldering of wire could look like madness for my colleagues. So, it was necessary to keep focus, communicating only through artwork. When a month later, one of the artists said that out of my design could come out interesting furniture, I was relieved and open to discuss.

Armchair in its current state is an art object, an artistic expression. To prepare mass production version, tin soldering needs to be replaced utilizing mini-modules or welding. As far as language shape expressed in wire it can be explored and there are endless derivates possible. Leather could be used in upholstery. Making ends of the feet from wire are more practical, however, it is possible to make them with arch-shaped openings. Using asymmetrical capital allows visual and structural combination not only with horizontal, but also with angled structural trusses.
Research: Creative process was about using over exaggerated, over the top amount of details, to widen possibilities of technology and style used. It was an exploration of gracefully combining different materials. Also, I used some architectural ideas - inverted feet of the armchair remind columns made from rebar, topped with asymmetric monolithic capital. The airy nature and shape freedom allow multiple non-standard uses of Kepler language in construction design. It is clearly not a mass-produced item, but a conglomeration of ideas, based on which creation of simpler pieces is possible.
Inspiration: This artwork was created as a part of bigger project where one idea was exploited indiverse methods. I was fascinated of developing single idea in various techniques and materials. Driven by this encouragement I have created experimental works, based on which later appeared wardrobe, table, and this armchair. Here you can see ornamentation inspired by plants (vine, twisting around armrest), as well as anthropomorphic and zoomorphic details, some even end up being a pregnant with creatures, like
Project Duration: The article was started in the summer of 2017, completed in the fall of 2018, in Sankt Petersburg.
Operation Flow: Kepler is not just ordinary piece of furniture, but an object of art with secret language. It can be interpreted as a piece from another world, created by alien mind. Sculpture reimagines geometrically plain and lifeless space as something cheerful and life-affirming. From the first sight it is obvious that elements were not created behind computer screen, but it was an organic process, almost like tree grows from the seed, or as if it separated from parental piece of furniture. Sculpture has hidden movement that makes you expect it to start walking, making it impossible to take picture of.
Patents: n/a
Image Credits: Image #1: photographer Tanya Bogdanova, Kepler-186f, 2018.
Image #2: photographer Tanya Bogdanova, Kepler-186f, 2018.
Image #3: photographer Tanya Bogdanova, Kepler-186f, 2018.
Image #4: photographer Tanya Bogdanova, Kepler-186f, 2018.
Image #5: photographer Tanya Bogdanova, Kepler-186f, 2018.
Video Credits:cameraman Mikhail Mikhailuk