Yet in doing so, it also reveals its potential function. In the way that the work structures a space, it turns out to be a divider that demarcates and defines compartments or areas.
The starting point for this room divider and sculpture is essentially a provisional form. A composition of several sheets of metal welded together with air in between - think of Ben’s In Hale series, but in a different sense. The actual form is then created by subjecting this makeshift composition to external forces, crushing the surfaces until the volume finds its actual state.
To begin with, the Crushed Room Divider is finished in three different states. There is a version in which the stainless steel is partially sanded by hand, creating a cloudy surface, an inherent fluctuation between reflecting and absorbing light. In collaboration with the master decorator Pierre Yves Morel, a second version is gilded with gold leaf following ancient techniques, while a third version is mirrored and reacts to its surroundings, both accentuating and distorting the immediate context and light.
