Cusp /kʌsp/ (noun): the point in between, the transition edge, a threshold, a really pointy end, the gap between surfaces, a space squeezed between volumes, a suffocating entity, a moment before a change or the chaos after one.
Bipolar Studio is pleased to present Cusp, its inaugural collection of artful design items. Nine uniquely handcrafted clay pieces introduce the studio’s core values, aesthetics and urban perception, narrating a tactile yet conceptual tale about Athens’ urban landscape in 2024.
This is a story about life’s ability to prevail over death. The manual to survive in the most barren soil. Tiny hints of wild, unruly life interrupting Athens’ solid blocks through cracks. Weeds in a petrified garden of concrete that defy any dirt or odor. No gardener or caregiver. Just the relentless sun, muddy waters and stampede. Trauma. Yet here they are, naively entering the fight to claim some space on the first cusp of spring. To absorb the sun, tame their thirst in a sudden storm and persist. Prevail.
CUSP
The collection embodies the city today in form, texture and concept in the most primitive way. Hands directly on clay sculpt the suffocating, arid Athenian landscape; the artificiel on the facades from the 60s, the ancient ruins, the suburbian newly builts with floor heating in a city one will rarely need a coat, those whose demolition echoes through the rubble chutes. No medium or tool is needed to translate the lived experience of a local. Just raw mud and liquid glass. The concept of balance, core to Bipolar Studio, remains under negotiation throughout the whole collection, as the individual objects explore forms of hesitant, confident and supported standing.
Three phenomenally useless objects, in three variations each, aim to make life manageable. A lamp, a vase and a stool. They light, they contain life, they sustain your existence. You don’t need them to survive the landscape, you do need their solace to enjoy it.
Ultimately Cusp employs the magical qualities of the number three to render the city viable. You start a circle, you follow its course, and you conclude. You plant a seed - or you don’t- blooms anyway, and dies. Then you suffocate, decide to change and you do change. Or you suffocate, you get used to it and you quit. You may not match, be an outsider. You can negotiate and you might be part of it. Or you might move to a city, live for a bit, and then leave.
GLARE I
GLARE II
GLARE II
CONTAIN I
CONTAIN II
CONTAIN III
SUSTAIN I
SUSTAIN II
