A&A
Unique creations by the collaborative team A&A. These kaleidoscopic pieces are inspired by The Victorian parlour game ‘Exquisite Corpse’. They use intricately crafted coloured straw to create its mesmerising effect.
A&A | FURNITURE
Adam and Arthur have joined forces to make one-off pieces of exceptional artistry, most recently exhibiting at Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne.
The exhibition takes its title from the French parlour game, invented by the Surrealists in 1925. In the game, a player sketches a body part on a piece of paper, before folding the paper and passing it on to the next player, and so on. The completed figures tend to be wildly inventive and pretty bizarre. “The game relates to our process,” explains Adam. “I came up with the shape and pattern of these pieces and gave them to Arthur to finish. Neither of us would have come up with these works independently, but together we’ve created something new.”
Each work is made of sandwiched timber and boasts curved and faceted surfaces that enhance theplay of light created by the straw’s natural varnish. Each piece has been entirely covered in straw marquetry, top to bottom, front to back – even the insides of the drawers and down the legs of the works.If the technique looks like a lot of work- well that’s because it is. It takes weeks to complete each, including time spent dyeing the straw, splitting open each shoot and flattening it in preparation for use.
The exhibition takes its title from the French parlour game, invented by the Surrealists in 1925. In the game, a player sketches a body part on a piece of paper, before folding the paper and passing it on to the next player, and so on. The completed figures tend to be wildly inventive and pretty bizarre. “The game relates to our process,” explains Adam. “I came up with the shape and pattern of these pieces and gave them to Arthur to finish. Neither of us would have come up with these works independently, but together we’ve created something new.”
Each work is made of sandwiched timber and boasts curved and faceted surfaces that enhance theplay of light created by the straw’s natural varnish. Each piece has been entirely covered in straw marquetry, top to bottom, front to back – even the insides of the drawers and down the legs of the works.If the technique looks like a lot of work- well that’s because it is. It takes weeks to complete each, including time spent dyeing the straw, splitting open each shoot and flattening it in preparation for use.