Phenol-formaldehyde latex Chair

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Phenol-formaldehyde latex Chair (2010/11). aerated phenol-formaldehyde resin (Oasis floral foam), latex, steel, plywood.

A composite of aerated phenol-formaldehyde resin, better known as Oasis floral foam, and latex, the chair serves as a memory bank of interaction and use. With each impression, the internal foam structure crumbles, where the outer latex skin returns to the original form. This element plays on human memory. Events create impressions, or, a memory in the mind, yet over time different impressions become crossed and shifted. Different memories become confused into one, just as different parts of crumbled foam merge together. Eventually we cannot differentiate one event from another and our memories become lost in a memory bank of time, just as the crumbled foam becomes lost in a skin of latex.

Blocks of the floral foam were held together using a chicken wire web and using a sandblaster, carved to the shape of two wooden profiles. The blocks are held together by latex with a final coating applied to the entire surface. With the steel legs attached afterwards.