Chrysa Ripper

Spawned from his central theme of chaos and control, Gareth Pugh engaged audiences at Lexus Design Disrupted in a supercell to showcase his newest collection, courtesy of sculpture artist Daniel Wurtzel.

Heating our planet from 93 million miles away, our host star - the sun - causes variable disturbances in Earth’s atmosphere. Because the sun’s warmth is relative to the surface area of Earth facing the sun directly, storms formulate due to convection, whereby heat is diffused and displaced geographically. Cumulonimbus clouds - undergoing congestion from molecular instability described macroscopically by the science of thermodynamics - appear very benign and static, even though we’re aware of their constant motion.

However, when perturbations are triggered amidst low pressure densities in the atmosphere, a cyclostrophic balance results, generating a tornado. From a distance, tornadoes - like Pugh’s collection - seem smooth, uniform, serene. Up close, the hectic cyclone reveals its unbridled power. Such is the way in which Gareth Pugh merges anarchy and restraint within his installations.

Gareth Pugh’s implementation of this meteorological phenomena extended his digital supercell into the physical form, setting the stage for his collection to be immortalized in all minds fortunate enough to experience it.