“Nothing is static, everything is in a state of flux, changing, sometimes imperceptibly, sometimes disastrously, and in life like with the Carbon Collection our perceptions depend on the angle from which we are looking.”
Adam Court, creative director of OKHA.
In line with the curious design philosophy of Cape Town-based interior design studio OKHA, the Carbon Collection includes six objects that challenge preconceptions of structure, beauty and imagined realities: Black Rain, High Voltage, Law & Disorder, Mondo, Rock Sculpture and Omega V.
These six projects question aesthetic conformity and the assumption of the need for order and equi-balance. Contrary to accepted norms of balance and symmetry, these projects delight in asymmetry and a nonconformist provocation in which form is unpredictable, uneven and beauty a multilingual dialogue between mind and heart.
The elegant MONDO coffee table is a paradoxical puzzle. The seemingly discordant composition of thin steel profiles, vertical and horizontal, blend together to create two perfectly concentric and symmetrical squares. Vertical supports are diametrically opposed and only visually reveal one pair of supports at a time. It is about balance and imbalance, random and systematic.
CHANTEL’s rock sculptures are pure sculptural works that reiterate the random (or perhaps intuitive) arrangement of the facet present throughout the collection. They evoke fossilized crystalline formations, reminding us of the structural order and disorder rooted in nature.
Similarly, each new perspective of the LAW & DISORDER project reveals unexpected proportional and compositional changes. Viewed from above, the three stainless steel legs and drum-shaped lampshade form a triangle surrounded by a harmonious balance, similar to the universal shaping structures of fractals and elements in perfect orbit. In profile, Law & Disorder surprises and confuses, as do the three vertical flanges of the base that protrude at seemingly disproportionate and irregular angles.
HIGH VOLTAGE replicates the shape of a pylon, its perforated lampshade texturizing and filtering the light. The powder-coated steel bars run diagonally and form support bundles. As you move around the lamp, a second set of bars becomes visible, cutting the first one crosswise.
Perhaps the most profound project of the entire collection is undoubtedly BLACK RAIN. A mirror that, unlike any other, faceted, recessed and elongated, replicates the sculpted and changing tectonic plates and evokes the wells of the hard winter black rain.
Sixth and last element is the OMEGA V console. Vertical lines sculpted in a carbon black finish reference a mantra of meditative minimalism. The solid oak wood frame and stepped solid brass legs pay homage to the architectural inspiration of Art Deco.
For all six projects in the Carbon Collection, the color chosen is black. The emphasis is on pure form, graphic expressionism and absolute values.
INFO/PHOTO COURTESY: www.okha.com
