He came up with a new metal call Altanium and if I recalled it correctly, it's stronger and than steel and lighter than Aluminium too. "Wow!" I said. Realising that I was sounding like a geek I then muttered: "Interesting..."... Fortunately Mr. Shrager then started to tell me in detail about this new metal and all its capabilities and yes, it did deserved a "Wow". I guess he's got my attention! Its application is huge and the befefits are real.
From a very young age I have been constantly introduced to new raw materials by my father, an artists of any medium (pic: Stainless Pegasus in Hong Kong by Antonio Casadei), and he kept bringing home new materials to mess about with. He has made stuff from just about any materials you can possible imagine and when he ran out of stuff to try, he created them from scratch! Every time he sees something new, you can hear his mind buzzing away already... It's a bit like the joke about when a Chinese person is watching a wild life documentary, the only thing he or she is thinking about is how to cook them! Well, I'm a bit like that too... and same goes with materials... ;o)Mr. Shrager then handed me a sample of Altanium - a piece of pipe, grey anodised. My immediate reaction was: "this needs to be Blinged-Up man!"... Even though the heavy industrial application of this metal is huge, I can't help thinking how to make this material look the business, and it wasn't long before I started coming out with all sorts of objects in my mind... a watch, a brake component, a pinion etc... or as Mr Shrager suggested: a tyre stud, but on a key ring, highly polished and with Altanium stamped on it :o)
Wonder if I can use this metal in Sonneteer ;o)
Hopefully I will be catching up with Nick soon and have a beer and see how his creation is coming along...
Dear diSegno, I'm a curator in HK. I was researching on the net about the works of Mr Antonio Casadei and sadly found out the sad news of his passing away recently. I do not know Mr Casadei personally but also through his works still in HK. My condolences to Casadei's family.
ReplyDeletehello, I live in Mei Foo and I would like to understand more about the history and design of the beautiful scriptures your father made. I am wondering if there are books or resources I can read about? Thanks!!
ReplyDeleteJoyce Wong
I love the abstract and surreal quality of the artwork, I want to understand more about the thoughts behind the work. I am glad that they are still well preserved in Hong Kong, where things come and go quickly.
ReplyDelete