 |
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
||
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
||
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
||||||||||
|
A
motion in time suggests a new balancing act for Robert Foster. The signature
pieces, animated vases and teapots full of associations, are less in
evidence. Instead they are jostling for our attention against a number
of equally compelling tables and lamps, briefcases and hip pods. Given that Foster, the craftsperson and designer, has always had a certain way with metal it is hardly surprising that his new work radiates an easygoing confidence. Foster’s skill has been to either hand raise or die-form steel and aluminium into some of the most spirited vessels in contemporary hollowware. While this has been widely acknowledged fact for nigh on fifteen years perhaps less well known are the lighting, furniture and accessory designs that are being steadily added to the repertoire. An innovative water-forming process for aluminium has been a crucial factor in the development of some of these new works. This technique has allowed Foster to infuse larger-scale work, such as tables and standard lamps, with the sensuous contours and exuberance that are peculiar to his vessels. The Quill lamp appears to momentarily hover in the air as its curves taper down to a delicate point of balance. The attenuated lines of Plexus immediately bring to mind the sinuousness of a Brancusi sculpture.The outline of the briefcases and Blue Ether bag are also due to Foster’s controlled swelling of aluminium sheets with water pressure. The briefcases, which appear to take their cue from hi-tech backpacks, are detailed with a T-shaped stainless steel and rubber handle and closure and lined, unexpectedly, with the softest leather. The tables are reduced to two parts: a base and a top. The base pierces obliquely through the tabletop to create a dialogue of movement and logic of construction. The water formed base of Island is substantial in size and monumentally proportioned. The allusions are rife: spaceship enterprises, Norman Bel Geddes’s automobiles, shark fins, ants’ nests, and sails moreover. The contrast of ocean blue glass against the wrap of warm grey anodising is inspired. Dinky Di I, II and III form a group of lamp prototypes that Foster created last year while working in Germany with the influential lighting designer Ingo Maurer and his team. The challenge was to produce a design that was stripped to its bare necessities. Every component of these lamps performs an integral role; each is visible in itself and in its functional relationship to the whole. The lampshade solution says it all: a strip of silicon is wrapped around the globe and held together by a rivet. As Foster explains ‘We involved only the bare essentials, attempting to hide nothing and to make sense of its function in the simplest of ways… so that it said what it did’. Vessels are the foundation of Foster’s practice. With Valkyrie and Valkyrie Valhalle he returns to the simplest technique, hammering, to create undulating and flowing surfaces that expresses the rugged yet ethereal quality of the famous Norse legends. The intuitive touch of the hand, as Foster suggests, is crucial to these delicately hued works; “I was exploring the notion of creating a soft fluid feel to the metal, which contradicts the nature of the medium as hard static and cold”. The Hip Pods are the sleekest pieces on show. As their name implies, these small containers are worn so close to the body that their function as adornment far exceeds their role as carrier. With this understanding, Foster has raised the shapes as pertinently and as flawlessly as jewellery. The stainless steel bulges and reflects; the rich blue anodising offsets the perforations while the rainbow effects of the titanium pod completely seduce. A growing sense of subtlety and depth is evident in this exhibition. What impresses most is the distinctive style and approach that unites each of the pieces into a cohesive body of work. Once again, it appears that Foster’s wizardry and eye for balance and suspense have beguiled us. Roger
Leong |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
Robert
Foster EDUCATION MAJOR
COLLECTIONS PARTICIPATION EXHIBITIONS
and BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION 2000
1999
1998
1997 1996
1995
1994
1993
1992
1991
1990
1989
1988
1987
1986 |
||||||||||
