Heavy Metal at the Woodstock Foundry

Design Indaba 2013: South African designers presented a wide range of pieces made from metals at this exhibition in Cape Town during Design Indaba earlier this month (+ slideshow).

Above: Rockin Chair by Bad Machine

Heavy Metal was organised by South African design gallery Southern Guild and global steel and mining company ArcelorMittal at the Woodstock Foundry, a hub of shops, galleries and workshops in the Woodstock area of Cape Town, which the city's design community has recently made its home.

Above: Welcome to My World by Bronze Age Art Foundry

The pieces on show included designer Haldane Martin's hexagonal brass tables and Bad Machine's rocking chair.

Above: Hex by Haldane Martin

Furniture designer James B Hannah presented two large curvy sculptures with protruding breasts and designer Pieter Henning showed a tall table with delicate tapering legs.

Above: Very Cheecky Gentlemen table and Jodi by James B Hannah

Bronze Age Art Foundry contributed a tall and wonky table topped with a skull and a gorilla opening his chest to reveal a smaller monkey.

Above: Tier by Pieter Henning

Artist and blacksmith Conrad Hicks produced a bench by weaving strips of metal while sculptor Dahla Hulme built a chair by combining a wooden seat with metal legs and back.

Above: Skull Candy by Bronze Age Art Foundry

Designer David Krynauw showed a huge black lighting fixture made from ten smaller lamps while artist Dylan Lewis presented a chunky sculptural console.

Above: Woven Bench by Conrad Hicks

Also on show were designer Joe Paine's conjoined table and benches and artist Michele Mathison's knife sculpture.

Above: Rosendal Stoep Chair by Dahla Hulme

The exhibition included work by ceramicists who have incorporated metals or metallic glazes into their work, including a ceramic welding helmet decorated with a floral lace pattern by Ceramic Matters.

Above: Haywire Black by David Krynauw

Jewellery also featured in the exhibition, with pieces including artist Brett Murray's pair of knuckleduster rings spelling out "thug life" and a selection of chunky rings and necklaces by Laurie Wiid van Heerden and Diana James.

Above: Console by Dylan Lewis

Dezeen was in Cape Town during Design Indaba as part of Dezeen and MINI World Tour, where event founder Ravi Naidoo told us about South Africa's upcycling culture and programme director Richard Perez explained how the city could use design to overcome challenges left over from the era of Apartheid – see all movies from Cape Town.

Above: Talk Bench by Joe Paine

We'll be stopping off at design capitals around the world throughout 2013, and our next stop is Milan – find out more about Dezeen and MINI World Tour.

Above: Knife Fight by Michele Mathison

We've featured lots of metallic design on Dezeen, including a set of metal storage units with quilted surfaces, a rug made of chainmail and a chair made from a single sheet of aluminium.

Above: welding helmets by Ceramic Matters

Here's some more information from Southern Guild:

Following the enormous success of the Southern Guild 2012 Collection exhibition that took Joburg by storm, breaking all records of attendance at the Everard Read gallery and garnering over R17 million of media coverage, Southern Guild and ArcelorMittal South Africa present Heavy Metal at the Woodstock Foundry in Cape Town. Opening on the evening of 27 February 2013, with a Rock performance that will break the sound barrier, Heavy Metal runs until the 9th March.

Above: Thug Life by Brett Murray

Celebrating our ongoing partnership with premier steel producer ArcelorMittal South Africa, Southern Guild Heavy Metal will showcase collectable design pieces by designers and artists who produce in a variety of metals. In addition, we aim to explore the concept of collaboration and the true meaning of "Guild" through a series of workshops, special projects and events.

Above: [un]natural display by Laurie Wiid van Heerden and Diana James (photograph by Juan Voges)

Heavy Metal celebrates designers who work in the most resistant of materials, using sheer brute force and fortitude to create spectacular design pieces. From blacksmith Conrad Hicks' raging forge and Bronze Age pouring molten metal, to experimental design production using ultra thin hot rolled coil at steel giant ArcelorMittal's Saldanha Bay Works, the exhibition opening week sees public studio workshops and live 'pourings' giving a glimpse into the hot and heavy world of working in metal.

Above: Entertained by Gregor Jenkin pictured underneath Haywire Black by David Krynauw

A special collaborative event explores diverse aesthetics, with each of the designers contributing a unique element with common fixing points and the group coming together to fuse these pieces into a permanent sculptural work. It is our aim to strengthen the notion of "an association of persons of the same trade, formed to protect mutual interests and uphold standards of excellence."

Heavy Metal will include ceramicists tasked with incorporating a metallic element in their work – whether actual metal pieces, metallic glaze, or the interpretation of metal forms, the contrast between materials creating dialogue and tension.

We are also flying in celebrated Malian designer Cheick Diallo who will be mentoring the Southern Guild Design Foundation Awards Manufacturer Project with Wanga Ngwane and Soren Lassen of Woodlam.