Black Gold collection by Quintus Kropholler – Photos by James Harris, courtesy of Chamber.
Design Miami/ 2015. Dutch designer Quintus Kropholler presents Black Gold, a design collection that reveals the inner beauty of asphalt. Inspired by the geometric forms found in the laboratory, the series was designed for New York gallery Chamber at Curio, DesignMiami/’s new exhibition platform for experimentation.
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With this collection, Quintus Kropholler explores new and unconventional uses of asphalt, an ubiquitous urban material that is only regarded in purely functional terms.
Black Gold comprises a bench with a stool, a bookstand and a set of vases with a bowl. “There are tremendous aesthetic possibilities, from the dark sparkling luster of asphalt surface to the many colors and textures to be found in its interior” say at Chambers.
Even if asphalt and bitumen have been used for millennia, the materials are remainders of the oil industry, in other words, black gold. “They have always been linked to transit, trade, and lobbyism becoming an unnoticed symbol of prosperity” says Quintus Kropholler
“With the Black Gold collection I aim to reflect upon a piece of our current consumer society that in time will cease to exist without coming back again. This collection has been designed as a monument of this era” Adds the designer.
With a background in product design and a fascination with sociological ubiquity, Amsterdam based designer Quintus Kropholler aspires to shift the cognitive perspective of the spectator/consumer/user by creating physical items than can be touched, held, and interacted with rather than traditional art pieces made for purely aesthetic purposes.
Chamber is a twenty-first century reliquary for unusual objects and a platform for design experimentation. Each year, a guest designer or artist is invited to curate the gallery’s central program, bringing their unique viewpoint to Chamber through specially commissioned pieces, one of a kind works of art and rare vintage artifacts.
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