Italian designer Marco Stefanelli infuses natural objects with a delicately abstracted presence of the human hand. These chairs, made for the 2012 Fuorisalone Milano exhibition contemporary intervention through rustic materials.  His small incisions of light, cut, filled and sculpted from and into these existing blocks of tree stumps represent the designer’s meticulous sensibility. Each log undergoes a linear and straightforward transformation involving the formal evolution of a predetermined incision that is graphed on the stump’s exterior surface. Those lines are carefully traced with the blade of a saw and the resultant carving is removed. This piece is cast in acrylic and inserted to the log, holding in place lights. These internalized lights illuminate the interior flesh of the stump,reflecting the color of this heartwood through the acrylic cap. The light emitted through each acrylic scar varies depending on the type and age of the wood in question, glowing anywhere from pristine white to warm yellow to dingy orange.

These pieces reflect a contemporary approach to furniture and design that is filtered through physically ancient and symbolically traditional means. The seats utilize the dichotomy between solid and void, light and shadow, to create interesting, contemporary formal exercises that also have a practical application. These chairs can be plugged in and used for both seated comfort and spatial illumination.


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