Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec have been known for their extraordinary design and cooperation for over twenty years with projects ranging from creating small objects to commissioned installations and architecture, from drawings to videos and photography. Their arrangement of “17 Screens” currently on show at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art has been developed specifically for the gallery space, comprising interweaving sequences of modular elements made of ceramics, aluminum, glass, wooden sticks and textile.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE 17 Screens, The Bouroullec Brothers, through 19 March 2016, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv tamuseum.org.il

The Bouroullec brothers’ hallmark aesthetics and approach shine throughout the exhibition, not only through the inventive use of materials and the technical confidence seen in each of the pieces, but also in the designs’ conceptual aspect: all of the screens are transparent and seem even fragile in their construction – defeating their common purpose as objects that simply separate space. Instead they’re transformed to active spatial gestures that shape the flow of movement around them.

“17 Screens” was realized during a year of research and development, and combines traditional crafts with advanced technologies. unlike many of their previous works, the design was developed independently of a pre-commissioned end-product, having been conceived as a museum installation right away. The designers started out with watercolour drawings that were translated into sets of interrelated units, with surfaces creating an interplay of light and color that corresponds to changing ambient conditions. Through the use of ceramics, aluminum, glass, wooden sticks and textile, the screens double as movable partitions, allowing a more flexible spatial typologies to emerge.

Thinking beyond trends and mainstreams in the field, this special project is based on an ongoing sociological study of living environments focused on habitations as well as work spaces – as determined and influenced by societal relations. The Bouroullec brothers pieces are often perceived as moveable partitions, which allow, while delimiting the space, for new and more flexible spatial categories to emerge.