Babel Crane, BE

About the Item

The mixed-media chandelier, Babel Crane, exemplifies Jadot’s ability to elevate common objects by ignoring their original intent and juxtaposing them with high end materials, from raw to precious. A large brass ring supports eight plaster lamps fixed by stainless steel claws painted with a treatment used in automobile finishing. The lamps were cast from a branch of a felled tree near Jadot’s house. A section of the tree branch had healed leaving a hole that let in sunlight, inspiring the form of the lamp shade. Bright blue and green industrial transport straps are guided by random shapes of pink and purple stainless steel to form the adjustable column body. While not easily categorized by a singular style, Jadot’s work could most easily be recognized by his affinity for repurposed materials and his deft eye at creating harmony and balance out of the collision of disparate elements. With the vision and confidence to experiment and evolve, Jadot has made a practice of skirting tradition by mixing genres, inspirations, and materials to achieve his iconoclastic vision. Key to his work process is a strong belief in craftsmanship and integrity in terms of behavior and approach. The principle of reclamation has been relevant to Jadot from a young age. As a child in his father’s workshop, Jadot developed a keen attraction and respect for materials, coveting the bits of scrap wood and leather that would accumulate around the floor and had been deemed “fair game.” Today this manifests as both a philosophical and aesthetic tenet to his work. Manipulating materials that have been salvaged permeates the works with a sense of character, history, and humanity. Working from a near photographic mental library of materials and influences, he is at once artist, tinkerer, and inventor. He explains, “What interests me is ideas passing though memory, and the influences mixing. Culture meeting subculture, mixing genre – from memory. I filled notebooks of ideas and with this approach I decided to achieve all that was in my notebooks. It is an exciting job; it’s more an expression, free of any constraints. But it is also a free reflection on design and art, and this fragile border that I love to cross in both directions.”

Creator:
Lionel Jadot (Artist)
Dimensions:
Height: 74 in (187.96 cm)Width: 66 in (167.64 cm)Depth: 66 in (167.64 cm)
Materials and Techniques:
Brass,Plaster,Steel
Place of Origin:
United States
Period:
2010-
Date of Manufacture:
2019
Production Type:
New & Custom(One of a Kind)
Estimated Production Time:
Available Now
Condition:
Seller Location:
New York, NY
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU905316616172
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