The first thing you are greeted with in Martin Kastner’s studio is the Resurrection Shelf. This is where prototypes and past projects live in a quasi-purgatory until moments of their design can be used in other projects. It’s also a nice reminder to the the all the labor and models that go into creating a finished product.
Martin Kastner of gave a lecture at SAIC last week on his practice Crucial Detailand his process working with Grant Achatz, the executive chef at Alinea. Trained as a blacksmith in the Czech Republic, Kastner found new ways to express and evoke emotion through food as a medium, well rather, the vessels that hold food. True to his practice’s name, Kastner is all about the details essential in creating multi-dimensional experiences.
Kastner’s design aesthetic is so innovative, all I could think of was contemporary dance. Contemporary dance draws on elements of classical ballet and other traditional forms of dance that focus on an emotional response from both the dancer and the viewer. Kastner also mentioned he is very cognisant of the spatial qualities of the presentation of food whether it’s expanding like a balloon, or conserving space for the smaller Aviary tables. Contemporary dance too, has its variety of expansion and contraction. Most of all, Kastner and contemporary dance reinterpret traditional techniques to create a new artistic expression.