FOS — Room Divider (Warm Leatherette)
ABOUT THE PROJECT:
Room Divider (Warm Leatherette) by FOS touches on notions of fragility and strength through a three-panelled room divider created from cast bronze. Utilising hand-tools reminiscent of oversized potters needles or home-fashioned knives, FOS intuitively carves organic designs straight into the surface of moulding sand – the decorative elements of each screen along with functional components such as feet and hinges, fleshed-out as the negative form is filled with molten hot liquid bronze. Once cooled, the three components slot together to create a screen with architectural presence – visually light, yet containing a sense of permanence through its weighted mass and material choice. Room Divider (Warm Leatherette) was designed to age, with discolouration of its patina a reflection of human interaction over time.
PROJECT QUOTE:
“The conceptual decision and the aesthetic of the Room Divider belongs to the idea of reflecting a life lived, in the sense that the material is carved, smashed and pressed. The bumps, cuts and fall in a liquid state is the everyday of the citizens outside of the safe framework of our society which constantly seek alignment, structure and repetition. The shapes exists in a complex and playful manner, and visually, there is an inconsistency. This contrast is what lies behind the aesthetic decision for this room divider, an object that divides space in half.”
Material and dimensions:
Cast Bronze.
195 x 10 x 240cm.
Year:
2023
PHOTOGRAPHY BY:
Benjamin Lund
LONG DESCRIPTION:
The artistic language of Room Divider (Warm Leatherette) grew out of a gate designed by FOS for a homeless shelter in Herning on the Danish mainland. Whilst utilitarian in nature, this cast bronze gate was aesthetically assembled with the mental and physical experiences of the shelters inhabitants in mind. Rather than a consistent structure, FOS focused instead on a liquid state of creation – flowing lines and disjointed configurations that reflect lives shaped by addiction and loss of family structures. Room Divider (Warm Leatherette) mirrors notions of this original gate through a shared visual language as well as its functional grounding to protect or shield the user from the outside world. Room Divider (Warm Leatherette) was first presented as a part of FOS’ solo exhibition, titled ‘Warm Leatherette’ at Etage Projects – a presentation of the artists work with surface treatments from the natural to artificial. In the context of Room Divider (Warm Leatherette), its natural patina surface references the stress and discolouration experienced by the shelters inhabitants.
DESIGNER BIO:
FOS – Thomas Poulsen.
Designer and Artist, born 1971.
FOS creates sculptures, installations, objects and performances with the wish to investigate the social traditions, its systems and principals. He explores how our physical surroundings and social relations affects each other. His artistic practice is diverse and moves through many genres and materials. It embraces, in the broadest sense, sculpture, installation, music, architecture, and design. FOS’ work is an ongoing study of how the language of objects and space define us as social beings. Existing in the cross-field between art and craftsmanship, FOS is driven by an interest in how our social relations and physical contexts simultaneously co-exist.
EDUCATION:
1999: Danish Royal Art Academy, Copenhagen, Denmark.
GRANTS & HONOURS:
2019: Albertsen Fonden, Denmark.
2018: Aage og Yelva Nimbs hæderslegat, Denmark.
2018: Bindesbøll Medal, Denmark.
2017: Arken Art Prize, Denmark.
2010: Carl Nielsen’s and Anne Marie Carl Nielsen’s Award, Denmark.
2006: 3-year working grant, Danish Arts Foundation, Denmark.
EXHIBITIONS:
2025: To cook a turkey for thanksgiving, you need to know what you are going to do with your life if you don´t know, Marsèll space, Milan, Italy / Etage Project, Copenhagen, Denmark.
2024: Abogado, Museo Anahuacalli, Mexico City, Mexico.
2024: Words for works, Nils Stærk, Copenhagen, Denmark.
2019: Hands worn smooth by coins, Copenhagen Contemporary, Copenhagen, Denmark.
2018: Palimpsest — Hands Worn Smooth by Coins, SCAD, United States of America.
2018: /ˈpalɪm(p)sɛst/, Nils Stærk, Copenhagen, Denmark.
2015: Koøje, Charlottenborg, Copenhagen, Denmark.
2012: Watchmaker, Max Wigram Gallery, London, United Kingdom.
COMMISSIONS:
2025: Paris, Aarhus, Denmark.
2022: Sweeper, Hvidovre, Denmark.
2020: At Strøget, Mads Nørgaard, Copenhagen, Denmark.
2018-2024: FOS x BOYY, Milan, Italy.
2018: Au (0)ra, Vestfyns Gymnasium, Glamsbjerg, Denmark.
2018: New, sculptural desk, Aarhus, Denmark.
2017: The interior of Inés, Aalborg, Denmark.
2016: Your Succes is your Amnesia, Efterslægten, Denmark.
2015: Always happy new year, Copenhagen, Denmark.
2012-2018 Céline, Paris, France.
2003-2006: Radical Horizontality, ’Home for the Men’, Copenhagen, Denmark.
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