Materials as glass, metal and Corian which consider having solid properties, by applying some form of intervention can become malleable. Heat for example allows us to manipulate the above-mentioned materials and create delicate, fragile designs. A known technique that demonstrates just that, is the art of glass blowing. Bocci is a design and manufacturing company based in Vancouver and Berlin. With a focal theme that includes the intrinsic mechanical, physical, and chemical qualities of materials and the exploration of light as a medium. They cultivate a fluid position, between the fields of architecture, sculpture, invention, and design. The 73 collection results from blowing molten glass into a folded, heat-resistant ceramic fabric. The resulting shape has a formal and textural expression intuitively associated with fabric, which becomes permanently engrained in the material.
By giving one material the properties of another we can trick our mind to perceive it as something compliantly different. Just like the blown glass fixtures by Bocci are perceived as weightless flowing plastic bags. Manipulating a reflective steel sheet or glass panels with mirror backing, giving it a ripple texture will convey the appearance of water. And by placing these panels on the ceiling, will simulate the experience of submersion.
This affect can also work the other way round, coating soft, thin textile in liquid porcelain or plaster will give it flexibility and malleability and once dried, rigidity. These manipulations make us look at an object and instead of going through the normal cognitive process of identifying what we see, we translate it to sensations. We are forced to experience it instead of analyzing it.
