Stage Legs – Negative Space

You leave space for the body, imagining the other part even though it isn’t there. (Henry Moore)

As a designer, it’s easy to focus on the tangible shape and size of a product; its ‘positive space’ often becomes the object of concentration as the planning and preparing is centered on processes of manufacturing, joinery and function. So it is easy to overlook the component of a design that is extremely important and that is the ‘negative space’.

“Negative Space is the space between objects, around an object, but is not part of the actual object itself. It is the opposite of an identifiable object, which can at the same time be used to help define the boundaries of positive space.”

It was with ‘negative space’ in mind that I developed the ‘Stage Leg’, a folded steel leg that is reminiscent of the Queen Anne style – cabriole leg, in its shape and could maybe even be considered as a modern version. The leg is a simple design and robust in strength, which is identifiable on sight, with its use of industrial processes and material. The ‘stage leg’ is named as such because of the ‘negative space’ it creates, which looks something like the drawn curtains of a stage area. As subsequence to this form and space the product conceptually demonstrates and reminds us of the true importance of ‘negative space’, as it is metaphorically the stage in which design comes to life, it’s the dramatic space in which we identify shape and form and it should work to entertain our eyes.

“The term ‘negative space’ is not an evaluative appellation. We talk about “drawing negative space” as a precise and accurate technique of gathering information about complex shapes – spatial relationships and inter-relationships, angles. Our eye is familiar with walking boundaries. The Maori koru makes the viewer aware of the power of negative space that holes create. There is no disruption to the cohesion of the form simply the number of elements has increased and the language enriched” RODNEY HAYWARD – MARCH, 2005

 


‘Stage legs’ can be incorporated into a large diversity of furnishing products and are easily fixed in place. With a powder coated finish the legs are durable and can come in a range of colours. To suite the variety of floors and needs, the legs have can be easily adjusted with castors, padded feet and or height adjustable feet.

“Scuplture is essentially occupation of space, the construction of an object with hollows and solid parts, mass void, their variations and reciprocal tensions and finally their equilibrium” – HENRI LAURENS

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