Now there are 65 alphabets in the world. The most polyphonic is Khmer with 72 characters. The most economical is the alphabet of one of the nationalities of Papua New Guinea, which uses only 11 letters. Is there a correlation between the number of letters and the need for communication, the transfer of experience, the fixation of events, the primary need that seems obvious to all of us, and for someone is a completely rudimentary story? I do not know.
Interviews with architects, designers, and artists revealed something else to me: each of them has its own alphabet, its own system of visual signs, with which they express the inner sounds of their souls.
Irina Belan. Photo: Alexander Onishchenko
I could start this article differently. To tell that Ron Arad was born on April 24, 1951 in Tel Aviv, which means that he will be 70 years old this year. That in 1971 he entered the Academy of Arts "Bezalel", that is, his path in art and design began 50 years ago. Since 1974, he studied for five years at the School of Architectural Association in London. That in 1981, together with Karolin Torman, he organized the One Off design studio. In the same year, he introduced the Rover armchair, which brought him fame. It seems that Ron Arad has another anniversary this year - the 40th anniversary of the appearance of his first bureau and the first object of his design. The Rover was assembled from two ready-made items - an old red armchair from a Rover P6 car and parts of steel fences used on farms to keep livestock. It was a ready-made of pure water, a deep homage to Monsieur Duchamp. Now we would say that we are talking about recycling, but then no one thought about saving the environment. However, this does not prevent me from calling him a pioneer of intuitive recycling. I could write that in 1989 he founded Ron Arad Associates, and 9 years later - Ron Arad Architects together with Caroline Thorman and Asa Bruno, with whom they designed the legendary design museum in Holon. I would add that Arad taught design at the Higher School in Vienna and at the Royal College of Arts in London, where he headed the department of industrial design, and that he is an academician of the Royal Academy of Arts. I would definitely write that his exhibitions were held at the Center Pompidou in Paris, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. I would say that he creates objects of collection or studio design, which are sought after by collectors. In 2019, the Blo-Void 2 ego design armchair was sold at Sotheby's for 25. pounds sterling I would try to list all the factories, companies, brands with which he worked and works - Vitra, Kartell, Swarovski, Cassina, Magis, Moroso, Kenzo, Alessi, Driade, Cappellini, Roca, Adidas, Nestle, Fiat, Samsung, LG , Bombay Sapphire, Hennessy, Le Coq Sportif, WMF, and then, for fear of forgetting someone, I would write that Ron Arad collaborates with the most iconic brands of industrial and fashion design. I could write all this. This and much more.
Photo: Sam Lane
However, I will proceed in a different way. At least because Arad always did not act as expected. And even in our three interviews, he never once gave a predictable answer, breaking the entire elaborate script of the conversation. So, I will leave you alone with Arad, so that he himself, using his unique set of visual signs, will tell about himself.
Architect
An architect is a difficult profession. This is not the profession of an artist or sculptor who goes to his workshop and creates there. Before you start creating something as an architect, you must be entrusted with the project by other people. Sometimes you have to win a competition to get a job. You must be able to convince customers to allow you to realize your ideas. You graduate from college, but no one offers you a job. For every famous architect, there are a thousand other unknown ones. Some of them are very happy with the fact that they work for someone. I always knew that I would not work for others. Being an architect means being influenced by other people. Being an architect means negotiating, yielding, appeasing, agreeing with clients, government officials, contractors, and the police. We have to work with the limitations that hold us back. And it seems to me that such restrictions are beginning to play too big a role in our work.
In 2019, according to the project of Rod Arad Architects, a building with an area of 200 square meters was completed. sq. m. — ToHa Development office. Photo: FERNANDO ALDA
After all these years in my profession, I am not tired of architecture. This is largely due to the fact that we do not do project after project, but work on a small number of them. Of course, there is a financial component to our work — we need to make money in order for the studio to function. But we manage to balance the number of projects and the opportunity to do only those of them that are interesting to us.
Money
Money is needed. To create objects, to pay people in the studio, our contractors for materials and production. They are needed so that the whole mechanism continues to work. Nowadays, the value of art is measured by money. It's sad, but money has become a measure of how successful an artist is. Some get involved in this game, and money becomes part of the art.
We live in an imperfect world, and the fact that money has become one of the criteria for evaluating art is proof of its imperfection
In 2020, Ron Arad presented a new Don't F**k with the Mouse chair, based on the Big Easy Chair
Maurizio Cattelan taped a banana to the wall, and someone bought it for 120. dollars This story was on everyone's lips, in all newspapers and magazines. Is he a good artist? Yes, he is a good artist. Did I feel any special interest in this subject of art? No. In any case, not now. We live in an imperfect world, and the fact that money has become one of the criteria for evaluating art is proof of its imperfection.
Art
Oscar Wilde said that art is something that has no function. This is not true. Art can be functional. If I want to invest a function in art, then I will do it. We are free and not obliged to follow other people's ideas. On the other hand, there are the words of Wilde, with which I agree: "There are only two types of people - they are either charming or boring." Yes, people are either exciting or boring. I use these words when describing objects of art and design. There are objects of art that fascinate and admire you, and there are those that do not touch you. And they are not interesting to me.
As a result of experiments with corian, the Oh Void 2 rocking chair appeared. Photo: MICHAEL LECKIE
I have a method by which I evaluate how good my idea is. I close my eyes and imagine that I am in a gallery and see my art object. Will it attract my attention? If my answer is "yes", then I implement it, if "no" - I refuse it and do something else. My art reflects the environment in which I grew up, the visual language that was spoken then. We are all slaves, hostages of the society and culture in which we grew up. Even if we hate them. We accept something, reject something, but in any case, we are guided by them. I still love the music I listened to as a child — Stravinsky, Bach, and the Beatles.
Criteria
There are several criteria by which I evaluate works of art. This is how charming, delightful, interesting they are. Someone creates objects from recycled materials that are useful for nature, objects that call for an end to fundamentalism or slavery. I will not argue with this. But this does not mean that I will share this approach, even if it is correct.
My art reflects the environment in which I grew up, the visual language that was spoken then
In 2019, Moroso presented the Modou collection designed by Ron Arad. Photo: Joel Matthias Henry
Curiosity
There are many reasons why we may or may not do something. For me personally, the only reason I do something is to satisfy my own curiosity. What will happen if I do it, and what will happen if I don't do something? Curiosity leads to self-improvement. And if you are lucky, then you will not be alone and there will be those who are interested in the same things as you. Because we need an audience, its reaction, resonance.
Photo: Giovanni Gastel
For various reasons, including rational ones, we should have the opportunity to create our own studio objects. Someone must pay us so that we can continue to work.
Manifestos
I am not a fan of manifestos, any loud statements - Less is more ("Less is more", words of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. - Author's note), Form follows function ("Form follows function", words of Louis Sullivan . — Author's Note). Sometimes form really follows function, and sometimes it's the other way around. Often less is less. I do not buy such aphorisms. The world is much more diverse and rich for the ego to express in manifestos. Even now, if I say something that sounds too instructive, don't listen to me.
Beautiful Useful Love, 2017
I have a useful, beautiful, love rocking chair, on which you will see a quote by William Morris. He said: "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful." For me, such words are a recipe. I expanded this statement: "Let there be nothing in your house that is not functional or beautiful or beloved to you." If you love something, this feeling alone is enough, you don't have to prove anything else - why you love it, whether the object meets some generally accepted criteria or not.
Devotion
In my studio, I am the most adult. The rest, those who are younger, are recognized as devoted worshipers of an architectural club, community, cult — call it what you will. I am devoted to architecture, but not to the architectural circle.
In 2010, the Design Museum was opened in Holon by the project of Ron Arad and Bruno As. Photo: Yael Pincus
Chair
There is no single answer to how to create a really good chair. If people came to the store to buy a chair for the house where they are just starting to live, it is important that it be cheap, light, easy to clean, comfortable, made of the right materials. Completely different criteria can be ego beauty, unusualness. Each item you create has its own destination. And it is important for a designer to know his ego.
The Modou street furniture collection was realized by African artisans. Photo: Joel Matthias Henry
Uniqueness
If you are unique, there is no particular difficulty in maintaining it when you are engaged in industrial design and cooperate with well-known factories. However, I do not think that uniqueness is the main criterion for evaluating a design.
There are several criteria by which I evaluate works of art. This is how charming, delightful, interesting they are
It is possible to create a unique and at the same time a bad object - to make a unique chair that is uncomfortable to sit on, or it is harmful to the environment, or expensive to manufacture. As a creative person, it is much more important for me to create things that did not exist until now. This is what I do.
Photo: Michael Castellana
It is unthinkable for me to be a stylist. I really like items created by designers in the 50s. last century They did something that did not exist before them. However, it was easy for them to make this revolution - the furniture was ugly to them. Now it is more difficult to rebel against what Aalto, Imzy or Jacobsen did, because they created really beautiful objects. More difficult and interesting — because there is still room for something that will be really exciting. Exciting not only for me, but also for the audience in Kyiv.
