It’s Healthy to piss out the fire
Folkore and humor go hand in hand
Project information
Folkore and humor go hand in hand
Category
Material
Casted brass
About
The title is based on The Dutch Proverbs (1559), a painting by Pieter Breughel the Elder. In the context of that painting, It’s Healthy to Piss Out the Fire indicates that it is wise to avoid blind ambition. This approach of using proverbs to inspire new designs was later used on a bigger scale to develop The Allegory of the South.
Apart from the metaphorical element, the title obliquely reveals the essential ingredient and the process that produced the beautiful green patina. Yes, you guessed right.
We experimented al lot with the technique of electrolyzing the material. We tried oxidizing a lot of different metals to get to the point of the chandelier. We found that a cast brass piece in combination with the technique of electrolyzing gave the best result. Once we finished our material research it was time to piss out the fire. We collected piss from everybody in our studio until we had enough to oxidize the chandelier. Everybody drank a lot of red wine before they donated their pee so the liquid had the right acidity to it. We build a custom swimming pool around the object, poured some piss in, and then the magic happened.
The ‘it’s healthy to piss out the fire chandelier’ became one of the centrepieces of our Allegory of the South show that was held during the annual Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven.
Natural mix of the goldish brass and the patinated brown and green hues.
Our signature of stacking leading to a combination of ancient and modern
The 11 candleholders
Detailed shot of the work. We casted the brass in a single-use-mold. The mold is then smashed to pieces. This proces is makes for an old and scared look.
Architectural view of the girandole
Another view of the girandole. Without context, the design can be as large as anything.
About
During our presentation in Milan, during the great Saloni in may of a great year, amoung othe pieces we showed the ‘It’s healthy to piss out the fire’. The piece stood alongside the ‘Flarestack‘ and a forgotten piece: ‘The Shisha table’.
Time is a good friend of this piece. The patina grows more and more present when time passes. The difference between the skin hues of the pictures above, and the ones below are obvious. It will outlive us all, and even gets better looking.
During the Milan show, the girandole in full effect.
Our presentation during the Milan Design Week in a gallery exhibition.
Detailed shot of the work. The green patina at its finest.
The fine structured surface of the brass.
A natural proces makes for the finest of effects.
Raw material and fine detail. Straight out of a Pieter Breughel picture.
