Joris Laarman
Bone Rocker

Bone Rocker

© Joris Laarman

Bone Rocker
Bone Rocker
DesignerDutch, born 1979
CultureDutch
Titles
  • Bone Rocker
  • from the collection: Bone Furniture
Date2008
MediumBlack marble and resin
Dimensions30 × 32 × 40 in. (76.2 × 81.3 × 101.6 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by the Mary Kathryn Lynch Kurtz Charitable Lead Trust
Object number2009.507
Non exposé

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Object Type
Description

Joris Laarman’s Bone series, consisting of an aluminum side chair, a porcelain and resin armchair, a resin chaise longue, and this marble resin rocker, is a direct result of his scientific and material research. While there is a consistency across the series in terms of technology and form, Laarman created each design out of different materials, thereby continuing to push the boundary of possibilities in form.


In 2004, Laarman saw a documentary on a software program that General Motors had adapted to create optimized car parts. The program simulated the manner in which human bones grew; in particular, the natural way that the human body produces more bone in areas where it is required for strength and less in areas where it is not. Laarman became fascinated by the way that industry had adapted this natural occurrence and sought to design a chair using the same principle. He contacted General Motors to seek permission to use the software, and the Bone Rocker was born.


Although the software precisely calculates the thickness of each branch and curve of his chair designs, Laarman actually directs the process. “I didn’t use it [the program] to create the world’s next perfect chair," he said, "but as a high-tech sculpting tool to create elegant shapes with a kind of legitimacy.”


Provenance[Friedman Benda Gallery, New York]; purchased by MFAH, 2009.
Exhibition History"Recent Accessions in Design," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, August 16, 2009–February 21, 2010.

"Contemporary Dutch Design: Selections from the Museum's Collection," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, May 19–November 25, 2018.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Signed and numbered, underside of seat: Joris Laarman AP 1
FB16063

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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