Photo by Luke Bennett    

Photo by Luke Bennett    

Photo by Luke Bennett

Photo by Luke Bennett

text by Tamzin Simpson for Ben Alun-Jones

Ben Alun-Jones is young designer and qualified engineer currently studying at the Royal College of Art. His latest work is an attempt at the impossible: invisibility. 'There is something of an ideology in chair design,' he explains, 'that really what you want to sit on is nothing - like you're supported by air. That's how I began creating a chair that, in a way, wasn't there.  A structure made out of light.'

The 'Affinity Chair' is unlikely to win any prizes for comfort, but it pulls off an impressive vanishing act.

Photo by Luke Bennett    

Photo by Luke Bennett    

Materials: Acrylic, Mirror Film, LED, Ultrasonic sensor, Custom Electronics and Code

Plastic acrylic sheet and one-way mirror film are used to create a structure that reflects and merges with its surroundings. The chair not only responds to and camouflages itself to match its environment, it also interacts directly with the sitter: sensors activate pulsing LEDs hidden within its frame that quicken like a heart beat as it is approached. The effect is eerie: as the chair is lit from within, its reflective surfaces becomes transparent and all its edges are illuminated. The chair's disappearance is an attempt at escape; yet this strangely animate object remains rooted to the spot, it’s vanishing body revealing a further hidden space within.

Photo by Luke Bennett    

Photo by Luke Bennett    

Alun-Jones' explains his work as using technology itself as an artistic medium to challenge existing perceptions. His materials are unconventional - LEDs, ultrasonic sensors, custom-built and programmed circuit boards. The result is new, challenging, and anything but robotic.



Filmed at The Old Police Station, Deptford
video Courtesy of Ben Alun-Jones

The Affinity Chair will be featured at the Royal College of Art Interim Show (Wed 2nd - Mon 7th Feb 2011) as well as at V&A Connects with... ARTS THREAD (Tues 25th Jan 2011) and the V&A Digital Festival (Sat 5th March 2011), both at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.

Photo by Luke Bennett    

Photo by Luke Bennett    

Affinity Chair by Ben Alun-Jones

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