One of the many issues that puzzled Wittgenstein in Philosophical Investigations was the definition of colour – how, in speech, we sometimes fail to separate a colour from the object it’s meant to describe, as if the colour itself is an object. Latvian designer Germans Ermičs addresses this conundrum in the furniture he makes. His point of departure is the use of colour to define form, rather than the application of colour to finish or decorate an existing form.

Oddly enough, colour gradation in his frosted-glass pieces does seem to suggest that the hues have been ‘stretched’ and sculpted into smooth, subtly contoured planes, gradually tapering off into clear or reflective surfaces. The latest installment of Shaping Colour, a project Ermičs began last year, comprises a mirror, a shelf, a table and a console.

Photography by Lonneke van der Palen

http://www.frameweb.com/news/form-follows-colour-in-the-furniture-collection-of-germans-ermics