'Memory Box' by Jia Li, 2012

About the Item

Designed in 2008; from a 2012 limited edition of 20. Side table enclosing handmade a red silk lantern in plexiglass. From a limited edition of 20 side tables. 5 Memory Boxes are available from the edition of 20 - each is £1,500. Born in Xinjiang, Jia Li lives in Beijing where he co-founded LiSpace, a centre for design development. He was one of the young designers at the forefront of the city’s flourishing design scene combining clean-lined, craftsman-led objects with a contemporary eye and creating unconventional constructions. . HIs obsession is the unity between spirit and function, the meeting and clash of ancient skills and their survival in a modern context, so challenging in an expanding, fast-paced contemporary China. 1,800 years ago the Chinese began the tradition of hanging red lanterns for prayer and festivals and the lantern-maker’s skills were central to these traditions. This intricate and difficult process is disappearing fast in modern China having been replaced by simpler, commercial, synthetic versions. Jia Li’s Memory Stools - handmade silk lanterns enclosed in perspex - hold in poetic perpetuity the artistic endeavour of one of the last of these traditions.

Dimensions:

Height: 15.75 in (40 cm)Width: 15.75 in (40 cm)Depth: 15.75 in (40 cm)

Materials and Techniques:

Acrylic

Place of Origin:

China

Period:

2010-

Date of Manufacture:

2012

Production Type:

New & Custom(Limited Edition)