Design student Tuomas Markunpoika Tolvanen was inspired to investigate the link between memory and physical presence with his thesis project, “Engineering Temporality”.  According to Tolvanen, “I felt the urge to connect design to the human emotional sphere and to values that reflect how we are as human beings, by trying to create a bridge between the metaphysical and the material world using design as medium of expression.”

Sure. He created the work by welding metal rings together outside and around old or decaying pieces of furniture. He then destroyed the original by the means of fire, leaving only the metal ring shell. In this way, he creates a memory of the object, a symbol for what once was.

The project seems to straddle the line between art and design, since it is unclear whether or not the final objects are usable as furniture. Of course, they could be made so with a few more metal rings: enough to support a person on a chair, or clothes in a cabinet.

Engineering Temporality from Tuomas Markunpoika Tolvanen on Vimeo

Images: Tuomas Markunpoika Tolvanen

by AJ Artemel

posted in Uncategorized

tagged burning, destruction, furniture, metal, tuomas markunpoika tolvanen, welding

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