Kongo
There are objects and images we walk by without even slowing our step, and then there are those that make us stand and stare, as though petrified, unable to extricate our thought and gaze from the thing that enthralls us. What confronts us may not be so straightforward or literal in meaning. And it doesn’t even matter what art genre it is. It’s all about how we perceive it and the associations prompted by our imagination. What does the Kongo texture reveal to a cursory look? A raised brass surface showing a burst of grooves, furrows or splashes irradiating like fireworks from the center, capitalizing on the gentle coloristic contrast between those splashes. But then your imagination acts up as you recall the name of this texture: Kongo. It makes you think of Africa, a herd of buffalo stampeding every which way across the savanna at great speed, pattering their hooves tumultuously, and raising clouds of dust. The scene unfolding before your mind’s eye is vivid, vibrant and dynamic like a movie, and it isn’t inclined to confine itself to the screen. It transcends the screen invisibly, spilling its energy over into the surrounding ambience.
All these images spring from the metal, the light and dark brown coppery hues of the brass. The brass reveals its unlimited possibilities as it fulfills the designer’s intent, setting our imagination in motion.