Swarovski Pushes Bling To Its Limits, At Design Miami/Basel
"Iris," by the London-based duo Fredrikson Stallard, blurs the line between art and design.
In its ongoing efforts to bling up every major industry event, Swarovski debuted its latest design collaboration at this year's Design Miami: "Iris," four dramatic, crystal-based representations of the human eye, by the London-based duo Fredrikson Stallard.
This is Swarovski's first time participating in the show and marks its renewed focus on the art world. The company had previously worked with Fredrikson Stallard as part of its Swarovski Crystal Palace program, which has produced experimental reinterpretations of the chandelier from a glittery roster of design talent, including Zaha Hadid, Yves Behar, and Ross Lovegrove. For the "Iris" collection, Patrik Fredrikson and Ian Stallard applied four different metal treatments, from gold leaf to Cor-Ten steel, to construct large-scale sculptures, each containing more than 600 hand-cut crystals.
Fredrikson and Stallard explain:
The eye has always been significant since prehistoric times as a representation of gods or of the soul. We have taken the physical qualities of Swarovski crystals and translated these into the psychological realm of how we as humans observe, perceive and reflect our surroundings. In this way they act as a link between ourselves and the objects, which in turn observe us back.?
If you want to gaze at them (and, in turn, be gazed upon), they're on view through tomorrow at Design Miami.
