Designers are often permitted to be control freaks, but this is heavily dependent on the type of material introduced. When Adam Cottingham began sculpting the Oroboros Collection, he threw many of his own preconceived ideas out the door and surrendered himself to the changeable nature of molten wax.
This chair, side table and pendant lamp were modeled by the process of allowing drips of the viscous substance to fall and harden, before more material was allowed to melt and solidify on top. The drawn-out operation gradually saw the three items take shape. In the case of the light, long and delicate strings of paraffin suspend from the bowl-shaped shell above.
The Oroboros Collection is named after the symbol of the snake that eats its own tail, signifying the inextricability of destruction and creation. A candle's demise is the birth of something new.
Why This Trend Is Growing
- Liquid Wax Sculpting
- Exploring the potential of creating intricate designs with molten wax could lead to new artistic expressions and novel product designs.
- Surrendering to Material Properties
- Allowing materials to guide the creation process could foster new ways of designing and producing products that embrace the inherent variability of the materials involved.
- Drip-based Crafting
- Adopting a process that develops as materials are added gradually, one drip at a time, could offer a new perspective on how products can be designed and manufactured.
Industries Being Reshaped
- Furniture Design
- Furniture designers could explore the use of molten wax as a material to construct unique and visually striking pieces.
- Art
- Artists could utilize the process of drip-based crafting with molten wax to create expressive and non-traditional pieces of art.
- Lighting Design
- Lighting designers could experiment with the use of wax in pendant lamps to create dynamic and other-worldly lighting fixtures.
