J McDonald
48H × 36W × 12D in / 112H × 91W × 30D cm
Steel, Foam, Handmade Paper from Gampi and Mitsumata Fiber, Brass, Silk Velvet
8 Edition
2021
Considering ideas of collective consciousness, superorganisms, and swarm intelligence, the Swarm Credenza is a reimagining of the typically monolithic typology, fracturing the long cabinet into a constituency of less formidable parts. But now beautiful metal boxes are scattered pell-mell across the house, the only vestige of their comfortable union a shared material aesthetic. Blackened steel, brass highlights, sumptuous velvet interiors. A colony of cabinetry wanders the home, searching for a structure, an organizing principle, an intelligence through which to fulfill their function.
Communicating through a strange flapping of their doors, a cabinet beckons the others towards a fiber of beaten bark. Cozying up beside it, the fibers adhere to it. Seemingly out of nowhere, more fibers fly in and they stick themselves on too. Soon, the mass of fibers has grown into a large protrusion. The cabinets know this is it one jumps on and accretes itself to the fibers a short distance from the other. The fibers are happy, they have almost completely engulfed the first cabinet and are eager for more space in which to propagate. The two swarms grow into and out of each other, naturally and autonomously and poetically, without the need for thought. When the human gets home from work, they are surprised and pleased to see that their oppressively monolithic credenza has taken it upon itself to reorganize into this elegantly symbiotic superstructure. They put their phone down on it, reach into its velveteen depths, pull out a bottle of whiskey and a glass, and pour a drink to the Life of the Object.
J McDonald
48H × 36W × 12D in / 112H × 91W × 30D cm
Steel, Foam, Handmade Paper from Gampi and Mitsumata Fiber, Brass, Silk Velvet
8 Edition
2021
Considering ideas of collective consciousness, superorganisms, and swarm intelligence, the Swarm Credenza is a reimagining of the typically monolithic typology, fracturing the long cabinet into a constituency of less formidable parts. But now beautiful metal boxes are scattered pell-mell across the house, the only vestige of their comfortable union a shared material aesthetic. Blackened steel, brass highlights, sumptuous velvet interiors. A colony of cabinetry wanders the home, searching for a structure, an organizing principle, an intelligence through which to fulfill their function.
Communicating through a strange flapping of their doors, a cabinet beckons the others towards a fiber of beaten bark. Cozying up beside it, the fibers adhere to it. Seemingly out of nowhere, more fibers fly in and they stick themselves on too. Soon, the mass of fibers has grown into a large protrusion. The cabinets know this is it one jumps on and accretes itself to the fibers a short distance from the other. The fibers are happy, they have almost completely engulfed the first cabinet and are eager for more space in which to propagate. The two swarms grow into and out of each other, naturally and autonomously and poetically, without the need for thought. When the human gets home from work, they are surprised and pleased to see that their oppressively monolithic credenza has taken it upon itself to reorganize into this elegantly symbiotic superstructure. They put their phone down on it, reach into its velveteen depths, pull out a bottle of whiskey and a glass, and pour a drink to the Life of the Object.