“ANAESTHESIA I” desk

The "ANAESTHESIA I" desk is a contemporary interpretation of traditional European writing desks and working tables from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It reflects Samuel Ross’s ongoing interests in Brutalism and early twentieth century modern design and his conceptually rigorous approach to industrial materials. This desk evolved from Ross’s research into the historic visual languages of West African furniture and post-industrialized Western design culture. His work asserts itself in space through mass, weight, and a raw, primal approach to materiality. Industrially processed materials, such as OSB (Oriented Strand Board) engineered wood, concrete, and steel, are infused with organic materials such as turmeric, clay, and honey before being fired and re-processed with, for example, the application of layers of acrylic lacquer. For Ross, the infusion of these organic materials speaks to past hands, processes, and gestures. They "carry memory, intentions and philosophies from the heartland in which they originate"[1]–thus underlining process as a form of ritual, and ritual as a form of making. "ANAESTHESIA I" explores the intimate relationship between the desk’s constituent materials and the human body, while Ross’s combination of erosion and accretion, and the celebration of mineral residue, results in an artifact with its own layered history. The object is emphasized as a vessel of memory, expanding the meaning of each piece while also preserving its functionality.

[1] The artist quoted in "Samuel Ross: Coarse," May 10, 2023–June 17, 2023, Friedman Benda, New York, NY, friedmanbenda.com.