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Price category: 12,500 - 15,000 usd / eur

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Robin Berrewaerts’s black oak bench is hand-sculpted and made of ebonized oak with an oil finish. Each piece is a unique expression, attacking the wood with the appropriate tools and finding by slow sensuous manipulation the best aesthetic effect, in form and surface quality. This exploration results in a balance between seriousness and playfulness.

During Robin Berrewaerts’s creation process, each piece gets its own, unique characteristics with different textures, shapes, and details. Essentially, each piece is carrying the same DNA with different personalities. Berrewaerts is a Belgian designer exploring different materials and techniques combined with craftsmanship, technology and a hands-on approach. His work is situated between furniture and sculpture with a strong emphasis on materiality and craftsmanship. Ranging from private commissions to exhibitions, products and sculptures, creating objects with or without any typological or functional constraint. Like his other unique pieces, this bench is made of ebonized oak with an oil finish. Ebonized wood can be created with a chemically reactive process or other means to colour the wood black, like ebony, while still allowing the wood grain to show through. As a result, the wood’s grain stands out even more, giving the design a striking appearance. In his own words: “The experience of a black surface is of a physical type, the absorption of light drawn away from the eye, the pupil opens and there is a sense of being pulled into the surface.” While this bench follows no symmetry, there is still an evident order and masterful balance to the design. The organic lines possess an elemental quality, balancing the design between furniture and sculpture. The rawness of this bench and its material are what make it one-of-a-kind in all senses of the expression.

For Robin Berrewaerts wood is not just a material or decorative element, instead, it is much more about the transformation from a tree to an object. This process resembles a conversation, a journey, looking for the right way to use time and tools. This attitude results in unique, artistic objects that have grown into something that arouses curiosity.

Condition:

In new condition.

Dimensions:

54.33 in W x 25 in D x 25 in H; Seat Height 17.51 in

138 cm W x 63.5 cm D x 63.5 cm H; Seat height 44.5 cm

About the designer:

Robin Berrewaerts was born in 1991, he works and lives in Brussels, Belgium. He graduated as an interior designer at the LUCA School of Arts in Brussels followed by a postgraduate degree in furniture design at the Thomas More School in Mechelen.

He shares his time between his own atelier and guiding students at the LUCA School of Arts where he is managing the wood and metal workshop. His work is situated between furniture and sculpture with a strong emphasis on materiality and craftsmanship. Ranging from private commissions to exhibitions, products and sculptures, creating objects with or without any typological or functional constraint.

Whether straight from a tree or industrially processed, wood manifests itself in a large variety. For Robin, this creates a huge interest in using it as a material. He sees working with wood as a physical interaction between material and artist. It comes with its own processes, techniques and peculiarities of language and vocabulary. The transformation from a tree to an object resembles a conversation, a journey, looking for the right way to use time and tools. The identity of the wood acts as a guideline from branch, stem or sawn lumber. Each type needs different approaches which results in unique objects that have grown into something that arouses curiosity.

Many of Robin’s works make use of black. The act of making the piece black, whether oxidizing, burning or painting finalizes the work he has put into the material. It marks the end of the journey. The experience of a black surface is of a physical type, the absorption of light drawn away from the eye, the pupil opens and there is a sense of being pulled into the surface. Experiencing form and details before recognizing the material so the wood itself is not becoming a decorative element.