Metal Rock

Debuted on January at Fog: design + art fair in San Francisco, Metal Rock and Hex represent years of development and collaboration between the Hong Kong-based designer Michael Young and industrial manufacturing facilities throughout China.

Michael Young’s studio is a unique work environment and one of a kind in Asia. The studio specializes in connecting modern design and the technical abilities of the local chinese industry.

Having worked on a number of projects in aluminum for industrial clients, Young came across several processes for which a commercial use could not be fund, and began exploring the potential for a more creative and artist application of the material. To create the metal rock series, the artist designed and produced steel tools with which molten aluminum is injected with high temperature gas under immense pressure. A secondary process embeds color into the exposed surfaces as the material cools. It is a production akin to that of the cooling of a mineral, such as obsidian, from which the project derives the name Metal Rock. Likening the production and coloration of the aluminum material to the spontaneity of the ceramic glazing process, the process yields pieces that, while born through industrial manufacture, result in unique objects that are individually hand finished. Entirely different in process, but equally demanding in precision and technical skill, the Hex series is designed through multiple levels of complex computer renderings and then crafted at a precision engineering plant that manufactures aluminum computer casings. Each piece is milled from a solid block of highest grade aluminum, made specifically for the project. In a specialized cutting process that utilizes a 5-axis cnc machine, of which only a few exist in the world, the pieces emerge from the solid block in a process that may take up to 6 months to complete.

Metal Rock and Hex
Design: Michael Young