The building materials such as cement are essential parts to fulfil all infrastructural needs but a group of artists and architectures has transformed it into lifestyle pieces with their innovative designs. By Asmita Sarkar

Hard, solid lines, rough texture and grey facades are the quintessential ways one imagines cement, which makes the backbone of a building, but to see it in an art exhibition and indoors isn’t common nor tried before. While plastic and steel have been reimagined to be used in art installations and fabrics, such experiments with cement are unheard of. The minds behind the art exhibition, Craft Béton – Cement.Reimagined., also had to fight off the image that cement is boring and stiff to make it possible.

To create the exhibition, Craft Village made a residency where international artists also took part. Their different approaches and thought processes fuelled this exploration.

Founder of Craft Village, Iti Tyagi’s piece titled Audrey is flowy with drapes, an unusual sight when it comes to cement. “‘Paris is a good idea’, the iconic Hollywood actress Audrey Hepburn once said. Inspired by her words, this table Audrey is a delicate tale told in the French Louis XV Style,” she said. “When we’re working with cement, one of the biggest challenges is that people think it can go only in the moulds and people can wonder how can somebody play with it with hands? I thought why not try and break that idea and try something glamorous with drapes and flowy. I did hand-sculpting and took five to six hours to work on the drapes because after that when cement dries you don’t have much choice,” said she.

“I am a product designer and I had not worked with this material before. Also, I have worked in textile, product and material. So I gathered my knowledge to work with one material — cement — to do something beyond what people think is possible. People think cement is mundane, dry and it can break. I started thinking of inspirations and gave them shape with cement. We are open to more ideas and challenges in the future, if other brands want to work with us too,” said she.

The co-founder of Craft Village, which was approached by Dalmia Cement for the exhibition, Somesh Singh, said that the objective of the project was to bring cement to the home and make it a part of the lifestyle.

While cement is already part of our lives, since it is a material used to make something as essential as our homes, it had not been reimagined as other infrastructural material had been.

“We looked at it as a new material. Plastic and steel have evolved. Cement, despite having fantastic quality, never evolved because nobody applied their mind to it or looked at how one can innovate. The Melissa, my artwork, is inspired by Bhajju Shyam’s Gond art. One of his styles is to paint bees, I was very inspired by his painting which was called the ring. It was almost impossible to show air but the way he patterned it you feel the air. From two-dimensional, I  thought that I should reinterpret and create something three-dimensional and thus made this permanent wall installation,” said Singh. The piece has been a hit with people ordering it for their homes. Singh added that people are excited to see the new avatar of cement. The pieces exhibited can be reproduced, even at a bigger scale.

“We don’t want just a single owner,” he added. But  the refashioning was no child’s play.

Beginning with playing with the material, experimenting with it and trying new combinations to check the ideal temperature, conditions and mix, they did everything before the piece was created. The Melissa took 30 days to make from scratch.

“One of the best process is that you have to play with the material and fall in love with it to be able to imagine things using it. The other interesting challenge was that this piece also needed the drama of lighting. Shadow plays an interesting and integral role. We created an interesting texture and when you see it you can see a honeybee and a honeycomb,” said he.

This collection by six international designers features contemporary lifestyle pieces for the home and functional art for walls, floors and even bathrooms. It is a celebration of nature, art, life and abstract forms, from where the designers find their inspiration.

Dr Alka Pande, artistic director and curator who has conceptualised and envisioned Habitat Photosphere, of which Craft Beton is a part, said, “The design philosophy of the collection dovetails beautifully into the over-arching philosophy driving Photosphere. The beauty which is inherent in cement and is recreated by Dalmia Bharat through the creativity of human intervention is truly spectacular. This is an astonishing collaboration of production and consumption. It’s a rare feast for the eyes.”

One of the other designers who were part of the exhibition, Cynthia Rodriguez, who made the piece Antheneum, said, “Since knowledge is an unfathomable ocean, these bookends are a dramatic way to literally expand your mind. The more you read the more you know, and the more your mind expands.”

She added about Monarca, “Just as a butterfly is re-born this magazine rack celebrates the metamorphosis that a person undergoes when he steps into the wonderful world of reading.”

Another piece, GanasDeux, by Alan Saga, symbolises both the Chac, a long-nosed god worshiped by the Mayans of Mesoamerica, and the Hindu god Ganesha. And, designer Miroslaw Baca’s piece Birth is a representation of a mother’s womb and is reminiscent of the first touch we have all experienced.

Writer: Asmita Sarkar

Courtesy: The Pioneer

The building materials such as cement are essential parts to fulfil all infrastructural needs but a group of artists and architectures has transformed it into lifestyle pieces with their innovative designs. By Asmita Sarkar

Hard, solid lines, rough texture and grey facades are the quintessential ways one imagines cement, which makes the backbone of a building, but to see it in an art exhibition and indoors isn’t common nor tried before. While plastic and steel have been reimagined to be used in art installations and fabrics, such experiments with cement are unheard of. The minds behind the art exhibition, Craft Béton – Cement.Reimagined., also had to fight off the image that cement is boring and stiff to make it possible.

To create the exhibition, Craft Village made a residency where international artists also took part. Their different approaches and thought processes fuelled this exploration.

Founder of Craft Village, Iti Tyagi’s piece titled Audrey is flowy with drapes, an unusual sight when it comes to cement. “‘Paris is a good idea’, the iconic Hollywood actress Audrey Hepburn once said. Inspired by her words, this table Audrey is a delicate tale told in the French Louis XV Style,” she said. “When we’re working with cement, one of the biggest challenges is that people think it can go only in the moulds and people can wonder how can somebody play with it with hands? I thought why not try and break that idea and try something glamorous with drapes and flowy. I did hand-sculpting and took five to six hours to work on the drapes because after that when cement dries you don’t have much choice,” said she.

“I am a product designer and I had not worked with this material before. Also, I have worked in textile, product and material. So I gathered my knowledge to work with one material — cement — to do something beyond what people think is possible. People think cement is mundane, dry and it can break. I started thinking of inspirations and gave them shape with cement. We are open to more ideas and challenges in the future, if other brands want to work with us too,” said she.

The co-founder of Craft Village, which was approached by Dalmia Cement for the exhibition, Somesh Singh, said that the objective of the project was to bring cement to the home and make it a part of the lifestyle.

While cement is already part of our lives, since it is a material used to make something as essential as our homes, it had not been reimagined as other infrastructural material had been.

“We looked at it as a new material. Plastic and steel have evolved. Cement, despite having fantastic quality, never evolved because nobody applied their mind to it or looked at how one can innovate. The Melissa, my artwork, is inspired by Bhajju Shyam’s Gond art. One of his styles is to paint bees, I was very inspired by his painting which was called the ring. It was almost impossible to show air but the way he patterned it you feel the air. From two-dimensional, I  thought that I should reinterpret and create something three-dimensional and thus made this permanent wall installation,” said Singh. The piece has been a hit with people ordering it for their homes. Singh added that people are excited to see the new avatar of cement. The pieces exhibited can be reproduced, even at a bigger scale.

“We don’t want just a single owner,” he added. But  the refashioning was no child’s play.

Beginning with playing with the material, experimenting with it and trying new combinations to check the ideal temperature, conditions and mix, they did everything before the piece was created. The Melissa took 30 days to make from scratch.

“One of the best process is that you have to play with the material and fall in love with it to be able to imagine things using it. The other interesting challenge was that this piece also needed the drama of lighting. Shadow plays an interesting and integral role. We created an interesting texture and when you see it you can see a honeybee and a honeycomb,” said he.

This collection by six international designers features contemporary lifestyle pieces for the home and functional art for walls, floors and even bathrooms. It is a celebration of nature, art, life and abstract forms, from where the designers find their inspiration.

Dr Alka Pande, artistic director and curator who has conceptualised and envisioned Habitat Photosphere, of which Craft Beton is a part, said, “The design philosophy of the collection dovetails beautifully into the over-arching philosophy driving Photosphere. The beauty which is inherent in cement and is recreated by Dalmia Bharat through the creativity of human intervention is truly spectacular. This is an astonishing collaboration of production and consumption. It’s a rare feast for the eyes.”

One of the other designers who were part of the exhibition, Cynthia Rodriguez, who made the piece Antheneum, said, “Since knowledge is an unfathomable ocean, these bookends are a dramatic way to literally expand your mind. The more you read the more you know, and the more your mind expands.”

She added about Monarca, “Just as a butterfly is re-born this magazine rack celebrates the metamorphosis that a person undergoes when he steps into the wonderful world of reading.”

Another piece, GanasDeux, by Alan Saga, symbolises both the Chac, a long-nosed god worshiped by the Mayans of Mesoamerica, and the Hindu god Ganesha. And, designer Miroslaw Baca’s piece Birth is a representation of a mother’s womb and is reminiscent of the first touch we have all experienced.

Writer: Asmita Sarkar

Courtesy: The Pioneer