victor sonna merges symbolic objects to give them new meanings + functions

victor sonna merges symbolic objects to give them new meanings + functions
all images courtesy of victor sonna

netherlands-based artist victor sonna has launched ‘secundum’, a seating object that defamiliarizes reality,  during dutch design week 2015. the idea behind his work lies in giving objects a second lease on life, by transforming and converting them into something else. in this sense, ordinary objects are taken out of their quotidian use and place to let them suggest an infinite amount of possibilities and meanings.

by deliberately blurring the edges of the materials, objects flow into one another 

for ‘secondum’, the artist took everyday objects, some charged with different symbolism and meaning, and merged them together into a seating object. by doing this, their previous character was subtracted while a new functionality one was added. the final result is an object that reveals and conceals at the same time, an object in which the desire to show and the desire to hide co-exist. ‘secundum’ is designed as an aesthetic statement that challenges the spectator to have a more relaxed perspective, far from social constraints that polarize the vision.

sonna strips the objects from their obvious contextual meaning and gives them a new significance 

victor sonna says, ‘for me, an attribute doesn’t necessarily carry the meaning given to it by its context. instead, an attribute ‘challenges’ me into stripping it from its obvious contextual meaning and giving it a new significance.’

discarded objects are given a second chance

the objects are reduced to the size needed to fit its new function as part of a bigger object

the articles end up being placed in the narrow space between art and aesthetic.

the final object reveals and conceals at the same time

when playing close attention the user can see the different pieces that make up the chair

the object plays a new role and acquires a meaning that can be different from one person to the next

an analytical operation that destroys to create something new

this detail shows a whole world of small objects making the big one

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: juliana neira | designboom