Contemporary Design

Emergent by Antti Grundstén

These materials that we excavate brutally from the earth frighten, excite and worry me simultaneously. We rarely stop to think the origins of metals we consider human made or synthetic.
a side table / sculpture made of natural stone and cast aluminium

Personally I want my work to amplify the persona and disposition of these materials. I’m trying to achieve and aesthetic that is forceful and brutal yet delicate at the same time. I hope that my work is associated in the domains of utility and sculpture.

My piece honors the natural form of the rock as a source rising above the ground level as a foundation and the aluminium as the more refined, luminous emergent child. 

a close-up of the same sculpture / side table

Thinking beyond illustrating the relations of these materials and their origins I wanted to study the consumptive nature of this piece. Both parts of the piece required rather large quantities of energy and force to form. I feel ashamed and sense a lingering quilt from the fact that I have failed to reshape my practice for more considerate. Having said that I hope my work has some ability to evoke thoughts on earthbound materials and their rather wearing part in the bigger picture of material flows.

Materials: Natural stone and cast aluminium

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