Cardboard Sculpture by Toby Horricks

 

Toby Horricks recently had an installation tilted “Icon” installed in the Gallery of Australian Design in Canberra. Four cardboard freestanding sculptures each represent a magazine from the publisher Architecture Media, with copies of the corresponding building design publications available at each installation. Each work stands on a simple cardboard pad of 1.8 x 1.8 meters.

Horricks experiments in cardboard lead to dynamic forms that share a common grid but unique forms, exploring the dynamics of a lightweight material forming complex structure.  The parametric abstracts reflect the aesthetic dynamics and tension between solid and negative space, as well as that of the fixed grid and free form.

Developed to be flat packed for simple transportation and display as freestanding objects the use of cardboard has a low initial environmental impact and is entirely recyclable. Cardboard as building material, explored by architects such as Shigeru Ban, shows promise as a way to focus on pushing the limits of low impact design within building science and aesthetic. Horricks has focused much of his work in the development of cardboard furniture to examine environmental materials, design and space issues.