Restless sits somewhere between contemporary gallery and futuristic furniture showroom. Split into accessible room units fronted by hi-tech floor-to-ceiling LED panels, the exhibits are divided according to the production processes used to make them. Early readymades and ‘scavenged’ works, like Arad’s best-selling 1981 Rover Chair (two red leather car seats stripped from a Rover 2000 and fixed to a klee-klamp scaffolding frame) are given a modern makeover, re-presented as Vitra-commissioned limited editions; bigger, brighter, and re-vamped for the twenty-first century collector. London Papardelle (1994), an ingenious wide-ribboned chair and roll mat creation shaped by surface folds of woven steel mesh, is defined and strengthened by steel ‘profile’ sides. The later Tom Vac (1997), a popular stackable multi-purpose chair in ribbed aluminium, uses specially designed vacuum-forming aerospace technology and is still in production today.

Since 2000, Arad’s seating structures have moved towards installation art, whilst crucially retaining and re-energising their functional purpose as chairs. His Oh-Voids (2003) and Bodyguards (2006) reinvent the chaise longue, experimenting with elliptical shapes and void spaces, and using a variety of materials: carbon fibre, acrylic, and moulded silicone. The silver Bodyguards appear like Terminator 2 in a state of change, half-formed and liquid-like, with their mesmerising swollen forms bent forwards and weighted by ballasts. Thumbprint (2007) and Gomli (2009) are extraordinary steel interpretations of the rocking chair that use sand as a counterweight to roll the user in an even backwards and forwards motion. Gomli is the only piece individually imprinted to accommodate every body shape and designed to envelop the user from head to foot.

Restless ultimately showcases Ron Arad’s continued commitment to experimentation with sculpted seating forms. His works combine simplicity of shape with an adherence to function, and an intimate understanding of the usable properties of working materials. Until May 16

ROO GUNZI