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| A SHORT HISTORY OF ALUMINUM: | |||
Cranbrook Art Museum’s upcoming exhibition, Aluminum by Design: Jewelry to Jets examines the revolutionary role aluminum has played in art, architecture and design over the course of the metal’s 150-year history. Aluminum’s essential qualities of brilliance, strength, light weight, corrosion resistance and ease of recycling have made it an unparalleled medium for design and creative engineering since its properties were first harnessed in the mid-19th century. Although it is the most abundant metal in the Earth’s crust, aluminum is difficult to isolate, making it precious enough to be used for jewelry and small, delicate crafts once coveted by royalty and other members of elite European society. By the turn of the century, with new methods of aluminum extraction allowing for increased production levels, manufacturers began to see the material as a commercially viable product. Aluminum became known as the "metal of the future" – an idea integral to aluminum’s cultural and artistic significance. Practitioners of the avant-garde took advantage of the metal’s silvery color, lightness and malleability for their streamlined, modern designs. This design sensibility quickly spread to industrial goods such as kitchen utensils and coffee pots designed by Lurelle Guild and manufactured for a wide consumer audience in the 1930s. Aluminum production increased dramatically during World War II. By war’s end, aluminum companies were eager to maintain that high level of production and began engaging designers to create new applications for the metal. Aluminum By Design: Jewelry to Jets features a rug and two tables by Marianne Strengell and Isamu Noguchi, respectively, that were designed specifically to encourage innovative uses of aluminum. By the second half of the 20th century, aluminum had become even more prevalent. Because it can be re-smelted indefinitely without deterioration of its properties, aluminum recycling is economically viable – making it an ideal medium for the automobile and beverage industries. Aluminum quickly gained entry into even the most exclusive realms of design and fashion. The exhibition showcases some of these unusual designs, including a dress made of aluminum disks, created by haute couture designer Paco Rabanne in 1969. Designer Marc Newson’s limited edition Lockheed Lounge, 1985-86, with its streamlined, riveted surface recalls the bodies of jet liners and demonstrates aluminum’s enduring image as a metal of the future. Aluminum By Design: Jewelry to Jets runs from June 1 through Aug. 25, 2002. |
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