SALVATION BY BOYM PARTNERS (1999)
Salvation is Boym Partners’ literal salvation for discarded everyday objects: a tranformation into one-of-a-kind design objects.
Constantin and Laurene Boym saw shelves of mismatched ceramic tableware “doomed to eternal oblivion” and wondered, for years, how these objects might be given a second life. They decided to thrift for these inexpensive ceramics and assemble them into new compositions: cups inverted into pedestals, plates stacked into tiers, and unrelated patterns and forms brought together into strange new table objects.
In the Boyms’ eyes, “from the dusty storage bins they would ascent to sparkling vitrines of galleries and exclusive design shops.” - and they were not wrong. Vitra hosted an exhibition in their New York showroom followed by presentations at Bellevue Art Museum, MUDAC Lausanne, and the Portland Museum of Contemporary Craft.
Constantin and Laurene Boym saw shelves of mismatched ceramic tableware “doomed to eternal oblivion” and wondered, for years, how these objects might be given a second life. They decided to thrift for these inexpensive ceramics and assemble them into new compositions: cups inverted into pedestals, plates stacked into tiers, and unrelated patterns and forms brought together into strange new table objects.
In the Boyms’ eyes, “from the dusty storage bins they would ascent to sparkling vitrines of galleries and exclusive design shops.” - and they were not wrong. Vitra hosted an exhibition in their New York showroom followed by presentations at Bellevue Art Museum, MUDAC Lausanne, and the Portland Museum of Contemporary Craft.
A FEW RULES:
The Boyms approached Salvation like an improvised game. Each porcelain component could cost no more than three dollars. Found pieces were brought back to the studio, spread across a large table, and recombined through experimentation.
Their first attempts to fuse the ceramics in a kiln failed because the various pieces expanded at different rates and cracked. The breakthrough finally came through an unlikely material called Extreme Adhesive System, a high-tech medical glue which could create dishwasher safe connections. Although glue was considered by many designers a taboo material at the time, the Boyms looked past their initial reservations and went ahead with their experiments.
With glue replacing the kiln, virtually any combination became possible. In only several weeks, the Boyms produced more than fifty unique objects.
MARCEL WANDERS / MOOOI WEER:
Marcel Wanders, a design colleague of the Boyms, created a production company in Amsterdam called Moooi (”beautiful” in Dutch but with an extra “o” for extra beauty). Wanders contacted the Boyms when he began a product line for the company called Moooi Weer (”beautiful again”) focused on discovering new life for existing objects.
Wanders proposed the Boyms create a set of guidelines for selecting and stacking the found pieces of Salvation. At the 2002 Furniture Fair in Milan, fifteen pieces were made by stylist Rebecca Wijsbeek according to these instructions. The pieces quickly reached critical and commercial acclaim - the project continued for several years with about 100 pieces made and sold annually.
“From an artistic experiment, our project turned into a design product.”
VITRA SHOWROOM EXHIBITION:
The exhibition at the Vitra showroom in New York aimed to lift the pieces from their dusty origins and into high-priced gallery stardom. Murray Moss recomended to ask for a Salvation vase “as much as people would pay for a real Wedgewood one.” There was no argument from the collectors who itched to purchase a piece.
Objects were suspended in the air during the show in order to demonstrate that they were fused together and not precariously stacked. By placing the pieces next to sought-after and timeless furniture classics, they immediately “exuded an aura of design objects.”
AVAILABLE OBJECTS
Composition I
A dainty and pink Salvation composition featuring stacks of porcelain plates, saucers, and teacups with rose motifs. The single set of pink cup and plate stands out among the others, balancing delicately in the middle until we are reminded of the medical grade glue that holds it all together.
Composition II
Four white ceramic pieces are placed in a still life. Unlike other pieces in Salvation, this object does not stack multiple pieces onto each other. It is a subdued nod from the series, the pieces are still fused together and remain unmoved, however they appear ready to move at the slightest touch.IN CONCLUSION:
Salvation found new value in objects that had been discarded and left behind. Through simple acts of collecting and recombination, the Boyms transformed anonymous and mismatched ceramics into collectible design. What began as an experiment in a thrift store basement became a repeatable production system. Ultimately, the infinite differences that made every object unique persisted. Similar to the Recycle and Searstyle series, Salvation continued the Boyms’ practice of looking closer at everyday objects.
