Industrial Design, Israeli Designers daniel elkayam | ashes to ashes

wildfires are brutal. we all know that. what i didn’t know up until a couple of months ago is how close to home daniel elkayam’s “burnt” will hit me. the giant fires, which rapidly devour forests and towns, while leaving behind a surreal landscape of burnt black objects is a scene i’ve come to know each year here in california. it even has a season now. the fire season. it’s as crazy as it sounds.
you can say that daniel’s co-creator of these objects is the fire itself. it feels like a true collaborative partnership.
daniel’s collection of wooden objects draws inspiration from that moment. when the raw wood is being burnt and the unplanned gestures of the fire leave their mark for good. at first daniel creates the shape and outline of the object. then it’s the fire and burning process that completes the design process and the creation. and the fire is doing what it does best, being unpredictable and it always surprises with the textures and shapes it leaves behind. the next step is to preserve the burnt and make it last. daniel is doing so by using acrylic varnish and airbrush coating the surface with it. that’s a very crucial part of the process since when the wood has burnt, the outer layer becomes soft and crisp and there is only a limited time to preserve the shape that was created. since the ashes of the wood are like sand that blows in the wind, even the most delicate blow will result in faded layers and lines.
i like the idea of turning a terrifying phenomena, be it the wildfires and the trail of ashes that they leave behind into objects that tell the story of perseverance and resistance.
you might think that “burnt” is conceptual work but that’s not the case. you can have your very own burnt object in a click of a mouse. and that’s also an excellent opportunity to mention moxie. a brand new site that curates a bunch of israeli designers and their beautiful creations in one place for the world to enjoy and purchase from the comfort of their home.
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www.daniellkayam.com