A collaboration between nendo and American artist and designer Daniel Arsham recently made its debut during Milan Design Week 2023. They partnered on a project called Break to Make, working with the concept of “nendo makes. Daniel breaks,” which saw the Japanese design house create several objects of no use that Arsham then broke to form something functional. A bathtub-like object became a loveseat, while a long, narrow block turned into a bench or stool, for example. The final pieces were displayed in pastel shades often seen in Arsham’s work.
Photo: Masahiro Ohgami + Katsuaki Kobayashi
“An artist who creates by breaking, and a designer who creates things to be broken. An artist who expresses present objects as past artifacts, and a designer who makes present objects that anticipate the future. The collaboration may be seen as an overlay of these two contrary perspectives.”
Photo: Masahiro Ohgami + Katsuaki Kobayashi
Photo: Masahiro Ohgami + Katsuaki Kobayashi
Arsham is well-known for his “fictional archeology” work where he breaks everyday objects, big (cars) and small (figurines), to give them an eroded-like appearance as if they’d been excavated after being buried for a period of time. He isn’t the only one following the concept of “reverse-engineering from breaking” – nendo has been known to explore it as well. Their like minds spent four years dreaming up possibilities before landing on the idea of nendo making random forms so Arsham could chip away at them until they became something new and useful.
Photo: Masahiro Ohgami + Katsuaki Kobayashi
Photo: Masahiro Ohgami + Katsuaki Kobayashi
Photo: Masahiro Ohgami + Katsuaki Kobayashi
Photo: Masahiro Ohgami + Katsuaki Kobayashi
Photo: Masahiro Ohgami + Katsuaki Kobayashi
Photo: Masahiro Ohgami + Katsuaki Kobayashi
Photo: Masahiro Ohgami + Katsuaki Kobayashi
Photos: Akihiro Yoshida
Photos: Akihiro Yoshida
Photos: Akihiro Yoshida
Photos: Akihiro Yoshida
Photos: Akihiro Yoshida
Photo: Akihiro Yoshida
Photo: Takumi Ota
Photo: Takumi Ota
Photo: Takumi Ota
Photo: Takumi Ota
For more information on Break to Make, visit friedmanbenda.com.
