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In 2017 as we were reaching completion of a residential project in the coast of Spain, the architect in charge asked me to design and create a table. The foundation of the project derived from the poem of T.S. Eliot “Four Quartets”. In particular the phrases: “In my beginning is my end (…) in my end is my beginning.” My obsession with time and space has been a recurring factor throughout the years. Translating such an abstract idea into the material world required thought and planning. How can the passagge of time and decay be sculpted into a table?

 

I made many drawings in brainstorming sessions trying to find what the language had to be, in my misfortune I ended up only with scribbles. As I collected my papers of non-drawings one of the scribbles caught my eye. I drew a flat line on top of it resembling a tabletop and proceeded by fabricating a wire model with a cardboard piece on top.

 

A scribble holds both a beginning and an end yet both get diluted in the chaos of twists and turns that encapsulate its shape. A shapeless form to the eye but that has to guarantee a function and serve as a structural member. This first iteration of the scribble could not support the weight of a 3 meter long steel slab. The rods, steadfast to the original drawing were too thin and crumbled to the weight of the metal block.

 

A miscalculation in the strength of the steel rods rendered the scribble into something useless for the project. It ended up as a sculptural piece. An element that defined spaces and would eventually perform the function of a handrail. This mishappening was not in vain as it tends to happen with most mistakes. The design process led to a stronger support based on the original design and Trazo I acts as a reminder of that.

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