Road Workers and White Liners by Josh Bitelli
University of Brighton graduate Josh Bitelli has made a series of furniture and vases from asphalt and road-marking paint (+movie).
The Palmeira bench, cabinet and chair comprise asphalt moulded by hand over steel pipes while warm and pliable. The seams of the Repaired Vessels are defined with yellow paint.
Each was made with the help of workers at a road-resurfacing site.
Here's some more information from Bitelli:
Palmeira Bench, Cabinet, Chair and Repaired Vessels in asphalt and line paint
The complex web of roads spanning and dissecting Britain, like the railways, support and connect all other industries.
If laid well, roads have a lifespan of fifteen years. While these esoteric events are integral to the smooth running of everyday life, they are seen as little more than an inconvenience.
I have borrowed tools, materiality process and knowledge from these craftsmen. The manipulation of this very industrial material is a sort of speculative playfulness that could be applied to all other industrial activity.
While hinting at other lost potential, I direct a looking glass to the people behind these events and the energy that is spent to keep something seamless.
