"Lolita,” 2004, demonstrates Arad's use of high and low technologies in an object that is shaped like a flat ribbon wound into a corkscrew shape. It utilizes 2,100 crystals and 1,050 white LEDs and can display messages sent to "Lolita's” mobile number. Edition by Swarovski. Photo courtesy of Ron Arad Associates, London.
:Widely recognized as one of the stars of international contemporary design, Ron Arad (b 1951) stands out for his bold approach to form, structure and materials in work that runs the gamut from industrial design and architecture to sculpture and mixed-media installations. His relentless experimentation with materials of all kinds, including steel, aluminum, bronze, crystals, thermoplastics, fiber-optics and light-emitting diodes (LED), and his radical reinterpretation of established types of furniture, like armchairs, rocking chairs, desk lamps and chandeliers, have made him one of the most influential designers of our time.
As his work suggests, "new" and "different" are among Arad's favorite themes. "For Arad, the new is an imperative," writes Ingeborg de Roode in the exhibition catalog. "As soon as he comes across a new material or technological innovation, he wants to be among the first — preferably the very first — to employ it or at least to invent some design-related use for it….By the time other designers are flocking to a new thing, Arad has already moved on to something else."
Over the past three decades, Arad's iconoclastic works, deliberately disregarding conventional disciplines, have stirred up the design world by challenging and updating the concept of the designer/architect/artist. He has repeatedly repositioned design alongside art, while keeping an eye on the industrial production and large-scale distribution side of his enterprises.
Unpredictable and adventurous, Arad's designs reflect his joy in invention, pleasure, humor and pride in technical and constructive qualities. The majority of his work has involved chairs and sofas — and much more.
The first US retrospective of his oeuvre, "Ron Arad: No Discipline," on view at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) through October 19, comprises about 140 works, including design objects and architectural models, as well as 60 videos. The exhibition, organized by Paola Antonelli, MoMA's senior curator, and Patricia Juncosa Vecchieerini, the museum's curatorial assistant for architecture and design, is accompanied by a useful catalog.
"Oh-Void 2,” 2006, acrylic. Edition by the Gallery Mourmans, The Netherlands. Private collection. Photo courtesy of Erik and Petra Hesmerg.
The exhibition salutes Arad's adventurous, sometimes daring, spirit in dealing with industrial design, studio pieces and architecture. Of particular interest are his best-known historical pieces, including "Rover Chair," 1981; "Concrete Stereo," 1983; "Bookworm bookshelves," 1993; "PizzaKobra lamp," 2008, and the latest reincarnation of his "Volume" series of 1998, the armchair duo titled "Even the Odd Balls?," 2009.
"Ron Arad, with his staunch refusal to be defined solely as a designer, an architect, a craftsman or an artist," writes MoMA director Glenn D. Lowry in the catalog, "leads us to look at the world of design of the past quarter of a century and to notice how far it has come, to what degree it has broken down walls and recovered its spirit of openness, technical curiosity and cultural pluralism."
Most objects are exhibited in a huge Corten and stainless steel structure designed by the artist called "Cage Without Borders." It is 126½ feet long and more than 16 feet tall. "Cage" is in the shape of a twisted loop and consists of 240 square cutouts lined with stainless steel that serve as shelves for objects in the show.
