The gravity stool is a very ingenious product which is formed out of the interaction of gravity and magnetism, and is the brainchild of designer Jólan van der Wiel, who is based in the Netherlands.

The concept is very simple - a mixture of a quick drying liquid plastic is mixed with magnetic particles and placed in a bowl. Strong set of opposing magnets are suspended around this mixture and slowly the bowl is lowered or the magnets are lifted. This causes the magnetic particles in the liquid  to be drawn towards the magnets thus forming the legs of the stool. This process continues till the required length of the legs is reached. The mixture is then allowed to dry for about half an hour. The liquid in the bowl becomes the top surface of the stool on hardening.

Jólan was awarded the 1st Prize Interior Innovation Award for Young Talent for creating these stools. He terms this process of creation as "having a dialogue with natural phenomenon". He likes the fact that in this series of stools, each and every piece is unique and that it spurs an urge to fantasize, as to what other forms can be created using such tools.

Among his other projects, one is a playing form for children where water bottles are collected from the streets and are used as molds for injecting concrete into them.


























Jolan was very kind to take the time to talk to us about his passion for design. Checkout the interview below:


Jólan please introduce yourself to our readers.


I achieved my first year at the Design Academy in Eindhoven. After that I studied Design at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy (Amsterdam) where I graduated this year with the Gravity Tool and Gravity Stools.

I’ve always been interested in using technology and natural phenomena in my concepts.  It should raise questions about nature and space and our role as humans in this space.

When I look around me I see so many extraordinary shapes in nature, which we can never make ourselves.  I’m looking for a dialogue with a natural phenomenon and excisting materials. My work is the result of this search and of a long path of experimentation. I try to show that there are possibilities in a different way of producing. A way of producing in where the product grows itself or uses existing materials. Inhere is a huge feature ahead.

Design has for me everything to do with inventing, create new things, new possibilities with existing forces. I like to think about new ways of production, and the freedom in general to create my own ideas. But I am also practical, it is always a challenge for me to make my artistic concepts functional in the end.

























































Please explain in detail the process you use to manufacture the Gravity stool.

The Gravity Stool thanks its unique shape to the cooperation between magnetic fields and the power of gravity.





Departing from the idea that everything is influenced by gravitation, a force that has a strongly shaping effect, I intended to manipulate this natural phenomenon by exploiting its own power: magnetism. The positioning of the magnetic fields in the machine, opposing eachother, has largely determined the final shape of the Gravity Stool.





























It is the combination of the magnetmachine with the plastic material, developed especially for this purpose, that enabled me to start a small but efficient chain of production. The forms and products  are characterized by the freakisch and organic shapes that are so typical of nature itself.


How did you come up with the concept of manufacturing the Gravity stool? What was the inspiration behind it?

When I look around me I see so many extraordinary shapes in nature, which we can never make ourselves. That’s how I came up with the idea to use the force of nature itself: magnetism. I determine certain points, which delimit the form, but what happens between the magnets I placed, is totally unique over and over again. In other words you might say that I have a dialogue with a natural phenomenon. I’m always seeking for this dialogue, and my work is the result of this search and of a long path of experimentation.



























Is the Gravity stool a design concept only or do you plan to commercially manufacture it?

At the  moment It will stay a while in own production and I don’t think this will be in manufacturing soon as well. Apart from this I will be interested to so what are the possibilities in integrating natural phenomenon into the production process.


Apart from having won the first price interior innovation award for Young Talent 2012, what is the biggest compliment that you have received so far?

The biggest Compliment for my is that people start fantasizing about what else should be possible with this kind of techniques. This is what I want to achieve and often it works


Which other Artists / Designers do you admire or draw inspiration from?

One of the designers I like a lot is Olafur Eliasson. He uses technology and physical phenomena in his artistic concepts. He experimented with public space, nature, light, water and reflection and makes the public and their reactions part of his work. His work raises questions about nature and space and our role as humans in this space. For me, as you can see in my own work, is also the role of nature and its possibilities, a central and important one.


Let us have a rapid fire round:

Tea or coffee?
coffee

Favorite activity when not designing? 
Walking around the city in the rain

Favorite singer? 
I don’t have

1 deep secret no one knows about you? (We won't tell anyone, only publish it) 
I've been on mars

Favorite sport? 
Football


What are your future plans? Are there any more awesome designs that you are working on?

As a designer, I see future potential in the joined cooperative forces combining technology with natural phenomena. It is my believe that developing new  “tools” is an important means of inspiring and allowing new forms to take shape.


What advice would you like to give to aspiring designers?

Leave space for mistakes and unexpected things. Use things and power witch are already there. Just try things out when you think of something. Work on it  further and further and don’t give up if it doesn’t look good in the beginning. Keep the big thing in mind. In your wildest imagination what do you want? Just make it step by step.