The Iceland Whale Bone Project

The Iceland Whale Bone Project

Each year some fifteen whales get stranded on the coasts of Iceland. A whole local tradition is being kept alive around the bones of these gentle giants, often used in their raw state but rarely worked on by designers. In January 2013, 17 ECAL Product Design Master students went to the Iceland Academy of the Arts in Reykjavik to attend a workshop led by Icelandic designer Brynjar Sigurðarson. According to him “the idea was to collect various types of bones on the beach, but also shark skin or teeth, or even bits of plastic waste. From this starting point, the ECAL students who had come from all corners of the earth were supposed to draw on the atmosphere of this particular environment to create objects”. From the skull of a Minke whale repainted like a car body to cutters using shark’s teeth, via ship models whose centreboard is made from whale vertebrae, masks put together using the remains of marine animals and contemporary materials, and including a geometric decorative object made of bone and placed on a pedestal, this surprisingly poetic selection is the fruit of a reflection on contrasts between the old and the new and the meeting of the primitive and the progressive.

Workshop (2013)

Each year some fifteen whales get stranded on the coasts of Iceland. A whole local tradition is being kept alive around the bones of these gentle giants, often used in their raw state but rarely worked on by designers. In January 2013, 17 ECAL Product Design Master students went to the Iceland Academy of the Arts in Reykjavik to attend a workshop led by Icelandic designer Brynjar Sigurðarson. According to him “the idea was to collect various types of bones on the beach, but also shark skin or teeth, or even bits of plastic waste. From this starting point, the ECAL students who had come from all corners of the earth were supposed to draw on the atmosphere of this particular environment to create objects”.

From the skull of a Minke whale repainted like a car body to cutters using shark’s teeth, via ship models whose centreboard is made from whale vertebrae, masks put together using the remains of marine animals and contemporary materials, and including a geometric decorative object made of bone and placed on a pedestal, this surprisingly poetic selection is the fruit of a reflection on contrasts between the old and the new and the meeting of the primitive and the progressive.

The Iceland Whale Bone Project  Short film by Brynjar Sigurðarson and Emile Barret
Master Product design, Charlotte Baverel, Iceland Whale Bone Project
Gríma  ECAL/Charlotte Baverel
Master Product design, Charlotte Baverel, Iceland Whale Bone Project
Gríma  ECAL/Charlotte Baverel
Master Product design, Charlotte Baverel, Iceland Whale Bone Project
Gríma  ECAL/Charlotte Baverel
Master Product design, Charlotte Baverel, Iceland Whale Bone Project
Gríma  ECAL/Charlotte Baverel
Master Product design, Dominic Schlögel, Iceland Whale Bone Project
Hákarl  ECAL/Dominic Schlögel
Master Product design, Dominic Schlögel, Iceland Whale Bone Project
Hákarl  ECAL/Dominic Schlögel
,Master Product design, Milos Ristin, Iceland Whale Bone Project
Hrefna  ECAL/Milos Ristin

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Master Product design, Iceland Whale Bone Project
Master Product design, Iceland Whale Bone Project
Master Product design, Iceland Whale Bone Project

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Master Product design, Iceland Whale Bone Project
Skipið  ECAL/Thibault Penven
Master Product design, Iceland Whale Bone Project
Stallur  ECAL/Luc Beaussart

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Master Product design, Milan, Spazio Orso, Exhibition, Iceland Whale Bone Project
Exhibition at Spazio Orso during Milan's furnitur fair
Master Product design, Milan, Spazio Orso, Exhibition, Iceland Whale Bone Project
Master Product design, Milan, Spazio Orso, Exhibition, Iceland Whale Bone Project

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