2022
HDPE, Clock Parts
Keep out of direct sunlight. Takes 1 AA battery (not included).
Made of plastic bags and 1 gallon water jugs. Plastic bags are made of a very recycle-able type of plastic but the form is hard to process industrially as it gets caught up in the machinery. They are made of very little material so the energy expended to turn it back into a pellet for reuse is not efficiently deployed. The real value of the material is in the story the graphic tells. We use bags mostly from New York but add little bits of bags collected while traveling.
2022
HDPE, Clock Parts
Keep out of direct sunlight. Takes 1 AA battery (not included).
Made of plastic bags and 1 gallon water jugs. Plastic bags are made of a very recycle-able type of plastic but the form is hard to process industrially as it gets caught up in the machinery. They are made of very little material so the energy expended to turn it back into a pellet for reuse is not efficiently deployed. The real value of the material is in the story the graphic tells. We use bags mostly from New York but add little bits of bags collected while traveling.
2018
Brittle Star is named after a starfish that has thousands of simple eyes covering its body. The panels are made by pouring molten zinc into a mold containing glass spheres. The mold is large enough that the zinc solidifies before reaching the edges so each casting has a unique “live” edge. Since each panel is unique and weighs differently, the panels slide freely on an aluminum bar containing the LED strip. This allows the panels to be adjusted like a scale and balanced after the light has been hung.
Each piece is unique due to process.
2017
These fully individual Liquid Metal Stools were made by casting aluminum into a tank of water gel beads. The metal flows in between the balls and takes the form of the negative space. Chen and Kai say: “We were interested in this process because it generates unique forms that can’t be repeated. It is also poetic that an ephemeral element like water can give permanent shape to something rigid.” The legs of the stool are made from aluminum foam which is shaped with air bubbles. “When we use the cast aluminum to bond the aluminum foam, it flows into the many holes and as it cools
Edition of 2, shown as part of Domestic Appeal at Chamber.
2011-2018
The first true product created in the partnership of Chen Chen and Kai Williams. Spandex strips are soaked in urethane resin and wrapped around a core of a tree branch with various other materials to create a “ham hock”. This is then cut into slices to reveal the cross-section.
2017
Lion Dance Costume was commissioned by Kvadrat for their My Canvas exhibition during London Design Festival 2017 at Somerset House.
To celebrate the “Canvas” upholstery fabric designed by Giulio Ridolfo, the design utilizes layered strips of fabric with frayed edges to display the individual fibers that comprise the fabric surface. The lion dance costume was chosen as the vehicle for the design to show movement and emphasize the lightness of the fibers.
2024
These sconces are derived from our 2022 custom chandelier project for David Geffen Hall in Lincoln Center. That building’s architecture and lighting references the ancient Roman traditions of Pentecostal Mass, in which rose petals were dropped from the Pantheon’s oculus onto the faithful to symbolize the descent of the Holy Spirit.
Magnifying two elements, the gesture mimics the motion of falling petals, softly swinging to the ground.
2024
These sconces are derived from our 2022 custom chandelier project for David Geffen Hall in Lincoln Center. That building’s architecture and lighting references the ancient Roman traditions of Pentecostal Mass, in which rose petals were dropped from the Pantheon’s oculus onto the faithful to symbolize the descent of the Holy Spirit.
Magnifying a single element, the gesture mimics the motion of a falling petal, softly swinging to the ground.
The coffee table is made with an American walnut frame with either glass panels or stone panels. The glass inserts are bonded with an array of different walnut shell to create a kind of specimen collection.
The smooth, stone inserts are carved out in a range of unique patterns, based on the walnut shell cross -sections, connecting to the diversity of the natural world and geological time.
2018
This Corn Extruder machine is a modified version of the same ones used to make industrially produced popped corn snacks. Without the cutting blade that normally cuts the snacks to size, an infinite extrusion of corn can be made.
