Thalen & Thalen contemporary silver
copyright Š Thalen & Thalen 2012. Nothing from this publication can be published without the written permission of Thalen & Thalen Sprl. Francorchamps, Belgium.
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t was recently that my son and I talked about the fact that we create silver objects and tell our collectors to touch this wonderful material as much as they can. It is such a tactile experience, we tell them.... Until that moment we didn’t use our own creations in our daily life. It was as if in a way, we thought that this was to much of a luxury for ourselves. The next morning we started to create our very own milk and sugar set. A few days later is was finished and this time we didn’t put it in our gallery, but on our kitchen table......and use it since. Every morning we enjoy the looks, the touch, the light reflecting this precious material and the sheer being of the object. Just now we started wondering how to tell our clients what we experienced. How to express this little joy at the beginning of the day. Should we just tell our clients once more that especially now is the right moment to invest in silver and more specific to start collecting our objects in fine silver. Money can not be more safe. And than, when one of our with passion, love and craftsmanship created objects finds its way into their house, let them experience this wonderful happy surprise meeting and using the object every day.... Maybe that is the best way to do, because we simply cannot explain the sheer joy they are about to experience. We hope you will already enjoy this brochure and who knows will it inspire you too ... rob & jaap thalen
Tea-cube is one of our examples of playing with classic items as the teapot as well as the element of the tea ceremony. Tea in the today’s “format” is like coffee a quick drink, hot or cold... nothing to think about. If we would give the process of growing and harvesting tea leaves a little thought, we might discover that this is almost like a form of art. It takes a lot of craft and knowledge to collect the finest tea leaves and treat this in a way that we finally will have the very best sensations drinking the tea.... With this in our minds Jaap and I designed and developed a number of tea sets and are still looking again and again to create elements in fine silver that can be used in enjoying tea in its widest way. Tea-Cube One, is an example... rob & jaap thalen 2012
Coffee & Tea II, or coffee and tea too. A set for those who like it all... Developed in our search for shapes that are linked to architecture, that act like tall buildings in a city. Placed on a platform that invites you to play with the different elements, install them in the direction and place you like, close together, concentrated in one spot, or just wide spread over the tray. A subtile combination of Sterling Silver and acrylic. The tray has a layer of leaf silver just in the centre of acrylic. With the reflecting capability of the leaf silver, it looks as if the various elements of this tea and coffee set are lit from the bottom. A set that we could imagine never to be polished... Let time bring a patina that will be reflected by the tray... And if you are tired of the patina... just brush the silver with a brush, toothpaste and a little water until the bright silver colour comes back, like cleaning the facade of a building. Many similarities can be found, just a bit different in size. Rob & Jaap Thalen
Our tea-towerII project is one of examples playing with classic approach of the teapot as well as looking at concept of the tea ceremony. Tea in the today’s “format” is like coffee a quick drink, hot or cold... nothing to think about. If we would give the process of growing and harvesting tea leaves a little thought, we might discover that this is almost like a form of art. It takes a lot of craft and knowledge to pick the finest tea leaves, to go through the process of drying so we finally will have the very best smells and tastes to enjoy the tea.... With this in our minds Jaap and I designed and developed a number of tea sets and are still looking again and again to create elements in fine silver that can be used in enjoying tea in its widest way. Tea Tower II, is one of the ways ... rob & jaap thalen 2012
We are a little lost ... A sense and not only or perhaps not the abstract sense, but the physical feeling of touching silver. Where we used the teaspoons of grandma every Sunday and touched with our fingers along the surface of the image on this spoon, we now have spoons in all sorts of materials from stainless steel to plastic ... Maybe a bit exaggerated, but while visiting a museum, what can you still touch? Not even to discuss a silver museum even... Of course it is understandable that some parts of a collection are fragile and by touching there is a high risk of (further) damage. A disadvantage of this approach is that the sensation of touching objects is lost .. In our quest to use silver as a basic material to create our art objects, we try to achieve the tactile element to play a major role. Creating the “touchable vessels” we have been playing with erosion. Landscapes that have been eroded by the elements. What takes place in nature on a very large scale, we try to translate in the surface structure of our ‘touchable’ vessels. Vessels, that look like as they were themselves, built up by these elements. Curved by the sheer force of the wind, achieving a delicate balance. Forms that, unlike images, are intended to touch. With your fingers along the fine silver traces explore the surface tension and eventually experienced a little in love ... “Touchable” name and invitation!
Making an old dream come true. Large art objects in silver. Objects created from a huge unrelenting passion and a skill like that seems lost longtime ago. Traditional skills complemented and alternated with the latest technology, to create inspiring and sensual objects. We studied the limits of the technical possibilities of silver. Investigating how very large objects can be created in silver and especially in pure unalloyed silver. The biggest possible deliverable sheet metal parts were too small for us, so we had to find a way to create fine silver sheets (999 ‰) in such dimensions suitable to create our ideas. When we succeeded to find a way, it cleared the way for our mega bowl project The inspiration to create these objects we find in two different directions. There is the influence of Roman amphoras, showing us simple shapes, designed for practical use and in a stunning beauty that still amazes us today. Secondly, our objects are marked by the character of a grand and open landscape, with injures and eroded by sun and wind. Through the process of hammering, stretching and shrinking the silver sheet, we create a surface structure with both a brutal character, and at the same time with the softness of silk, which is reminiscent of desert dunes in their ceaseless motion.
For more information about our silver creations, please contact us at: phone: +32 (0)87 270918 cell: +32 473 842435 e-mail: thalen.thalen@base.be e-mail: thalen.thalen@gmail.com facebook: Thalen & Thalen www.belgiansilverworks.com www.thalen-thalen.com
Thalen & Thalen contemporary silver
www.belgiansilverworks.com www.thalen-thalen.com