DECOUVERTE : Benita DEKEL
« It seems that the search for new materiality is eternal. Each year hundreds of students complete their design studies. Each year visitors come to see, gain an impression, and take a brief peek into the minds of the young graduates. To see the results of a very long process that begins with the small seed of an idea, continues with in-depth research, numerous experiments, some successful and others unsuccessful, and culminates in the finished product. A large part of this process is devoted to material.
The division is usually clear. In fashion design you study textiles, threads, fabrics, knitwear. In graphic design you study paper, cardboard, image, cutting. In industrial design you study plastics, metals, wood, and so forth. Each department and its materials. But when you mix materials and departments, the results are fascinating little surprises.
This is true of the project by Benita Dekel. A graduate (2011) of the Department of Jewelry Design at Shenkar College of Engineering and Design, Dekel developed a series of jewelry pieces that combine silver with concrete. The results of the combination of concrete, which we usually associate with heavy, industrial construction, and delicate constructions in silver is that despite being made of concrete the pieces do not appear heavy. The shapes of the pieces, which are very familiar, almost as though they have been taken from various construction sites, manage to surprise both in their shape and new function. « (Design Museum Holon magazine)
Benita Dekel, Massconstruction - Photos by Ran Plotnizky.
You can almost sense Betina’s hands carving their way through concrete. The raw feeling of it takes me to the land of scaffolding and builders (Read more at Design Milk)