Precarious – VISSIO
In collaboration with VISSIO this is the first occasion when the three designers (Emiliano Godoy, Brian Thoreen and Héctor Esrawe) co-create a collection of objects. Throughout several months the designers worked hand in hand with the design team and the artisans at VISSIO to generate risky, large-scale pieces which take glass design to new heights. The work pushed the boundaries of the factory beyond the processes they normally use to create the products in their catalogue of designer pieces. The project’s aim was to contrast glass blown by expert hands with other materials in a more primitive or rougher state, including steel, brass, marble, and onyx. The visual tension between the different materials is heightened in pieces which remain upright due to counterbalances that defy gravity or in assemblages of different materials that grab onto one another through rugged surfaces. This way the designers confront glass, in all its purity and plasticity, with the roughness and rigidity of stones and metals.
VISSIO is the division inside Nouvel Studio that produces unique pieces and limited editions. This collection expands the frontiers at the factory, opening the door of the creative laboratory to art and signature design. The selection includes pieces of unusual dimensions in the field of glass design, some of them artistic in nature, while others feature a usefulness hint that augments the tension and drama of the designs.
Much in the spirit of Vissio’s collaborative approach, pieces in the Precarious series rely on collective participation to maintain stability. There are no fasteners or glue holding the piece’s elements together. It’s the balance of forces that allows the piece to be more than the sum of its parts.
Precarious features an undoubtedly sensual form, with the rounded glass draping over the metal plates. The work juxtaposes the glinting fragility of exceptional quality glass with the surface texture of steel or brass plates bases that maintain the sphere aloft. Each glass bubble is individually blown by a team of Nouvel Studio artisans onto the base meaning that no two are ever exactly alike.
Precarious is available in three variations, 1, 2, and 3 and in grey or amber color. Precarious pieces are limited to a production of 8 plus two studio proofs.