Kaspar Swankey

Design rationale


Iconoclasm...... biomechanoid...... futurist...... sci-fi...... eclecticism...... s&m...... strength...... paradox...... architecture...... cables and wires and power supplies...... oil refineries...... the Lloyds Building...... bridges...... cranes...... metamorphosis...... wit...... functionalism...... contradictions...... constructivism...... minimalism...... individual...... anatomical...... reasoned design...... progressive...... music...... ideas...... eternality...... quality...... shape the work of Kaspar Swankey.



Iconoclasm: Attacking/rejecting cherished beliefs, values, practices and institutions. Irreverence.
Science fiction: Comics and imagery. H R Giger. Three-dimensionalising graphic predictions.
Biomechanoid: Bridging biology and machine. Fleshy architecture.
Futurist: Look to the vision of the future not the past.
Strength: Steel. Powerful. Rock-hard. Stronger than you. Design from a structural perspective. Solid.
S&M: Metal. Hinges. Locks. Chains. Cages. Punctured and pierced the imagery goes hand in manacle with ironwork.
Paradox: Reason behind apparent anarchy.
Architecture: A perpetual inspiration/obsession.
Cables: Unwanted they creep from the back of technology twisting like ivy, however... they are the essential life source and are beautiful for their synthetic organic-ness.
The Lloyds Building: The supreme building. Breathtaking. A machine. A very large engine. A cathedral of metal.
Oil refineries: Stanlow, northern England's greatest attraction.
Cranes: The towers of the city - predominantly more beautiful than their creations, as is the case with scaffolding.
Metamorphosis: Transmutation within animal like creations. The recycling, revival and personification of scrap engineering components. The development from a machine into a creature.
Wit: Fun. Humour. Acutely important.
Functionalism: Style derived from function. Be true to your materials; don't try to achieve what the material is not suited to.
Contradictions; Well they happen and if the end result is good who cares.
Constructivism: Russian art Constructivism.
Minimalism: Freedom from the painstaking clutter of vacuous ornamentation. Appreciation of the manufactured form of the steel, the form of the raw material having a defining influence on the design.
Individual: Exclusive, unique and somewhat esoteric.
Anatomical: Bones, muscles and tendons are expressive and evocative. They translate into steel remarkably efficiently.
Reasoned design: Simply thinking up ideas (blind aesthetics) is not enough; an idea has to be worked on, developed, transformed [sometimes scrapped] taking into account working processes, material limitations, structural limitations and other factors, parameters and constraints, before it becomes something special.
Music: A propellant. A provocation. A lubricant. A spur. A catalyst for channeling emotion. Sentiment inciting emotional outlet.
Eternality: Immortal. The opposite of built in obsolescence. The strength to last hundreds of years. I don't make fast buck, furniture that will fall apart after a couple of years.
Quality: Finished to a high standard. I'm a perfectionist who likes to make things to a standard that I could live with myself. Timeless treasures which will last forever. High quality, special, individual pieces,which are imposing and people are proud to own.