Object to Object 3

Select the objects from Camberwell ILEA Collection

I selected 'Mobile' as my first direction to continue my research after browsing through the objects of the ILEA Collection. 'Mobile' is a dynamic ornament composed of five viking ships, the ships are tied to a wire and swing with the wind.

Mobile (Viking Mobile)

Collection: Camberwell Inner London Education Authority (ILEA)

Date: 1968

Organisation: Flensted Mobiles

Designer: Christian Flensted

Dimensions: 487 × 91 mm (48.7 × 9.1 cm)

Medium: Wood (teak), paper, wire, thread

Object number: W166

Why I choose this collection

I am fascinated by interactive objects - 'playful' and 'whimsy' are what draws me to an object. Five small boats were hanging from the two ends of a wire, swinging and interlacing with the breeze, like a silent bell, interacting with the wind.

About Flensted Mobiles

The Flensted Mobiles fairytale is actually based on two straws and three paper storks. For this was what Christian Flensted cut out and assembled in 1953 when the christening of his daughter, Mette, was going to be celebrated. The result was the stork mobile, which was only conceived of as being a fun, ingenious and personal gift, but ended up as the prelude to Flensted Mobiles. For only a year after the daughter’s christening the firm Flensted Mobiles was established. And to this very day the stork mobile has remained in production. When Christian Flensted founded the firm, along with his wife Grethe, the family was living in Aalborg – in the three-room flat where the workplace was the dining table and storage room was under the sofa.

Reference: https://flensted-mobiles.com/about-us/

. Other Works of Flensted Mobile

I did some research on Flenstedd Mobile's other works, and most of Flensted Mobiles' works are made of lightweight materials, like wood sheets, paper, plastic, etc., which can be flexible and swing with the wind, and also make the products more transportable and more suitable for domestic use.