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Isaac Monte, Netherlands

Scientific Processes Leveraged for Beauty & Betterment

 

Dutch designer Isaac Monte is inspired by nature and science. His works make use of innovative new processes applied in surprising ways. Well known for his Crystal Series vases that are often mistaen for natural precious stone, they are a simple process pushed to it extreme. Made from mineralized crystals grown on a glazed earthenware form, their random grown patterns and softly jeweled hues hardly seem artificial.

The "Meat Project" pendant lights (last image) are a collaboration with BioArt Laboratories (a set from the edition is in the permanent collection of the Pompidou Center). They make use of a process called "decellularization" to strip expired and discarded bacon of organic material, leaving only a milky veil that can be formed into the body of the lights. The lights are produced in three sizes in a limited series of five.

 

  

 

 

The Meat Project
Isaac Monte, Netherlands
Discarded meat, glass fiber, resin, varnish, electrical wiring.
Series of 5 (in sets of three)
Largest: 90cm.H x 28cm.Dia / 36in.H x 11in.Dia

Waste not, want not; this is the message of Isaac’s "Meat Project" lights. To champion this message, Isaac applies a new proprietary process called 'decellularization' to strips of expired bacon.
 
Decellularization was developed by BioArt Laboratories as part of their exploration into tissue regeneration, it strips meat of all organic elements, leaving only a white, gelatinous veil behind. Isaac discovered that after undergoing this process, the material could then be dried, glued and stretched. Novel as it is, I offer to the squeamish a historical equivalent; parchment.
 
Made from specially prepared, untanned skins of animals, parchment has been used as a writing material since at least the 5th century BC. More recently, it is has been used by ebenistes as a decorative surface for wooden furniture, particularly in the Art Deco period. Parchment is also an enduring and traditional material for lamp shades and light diffusers. With the Meat Project, Isaac has tied history to technological innovation with dramatic effect.
 
In "The Meat Project", Isaac demonstrates that through creative use of new technology, there is hope for a mindful future of minimized waste.

 Commissioned by and in collaboration with BioArt Laboratories

Exhibition History:
Centre Pompidou, France
"La Fabrique du Vivant" [The Fabric of the living]
18 February – 15 April. 2019
Exhibition installation view below.
Acquired for the permanent collection of Centre Pompidou Paris 

The Meat Project: vases
The Design Museum Holon, Isreal
"Food"
21 May - October, 2023