In the late 1960s renowned American designer and artist-craftsman Wendell Castle upended expectations with a daring but short-lived exploration of hot rod hued plastics in organic forms. Already acclaimed for his highly original, sensuous masterpieces in wood, Castle immersed himself in the era’s new materials and Technicolor palette, producing a diverse body of plastic lamps, furniture, and interactive environments between 1968 and 1973. Castle’s plastic furnishings exemplified aesthetic and cultural themes of the tumultuous 1960s. Their
“far-out” novelty, organic forms, and environmental scale took part in the adventurous spirit of European design masters such as Joe Colombo and
Verner Panton. At the same time, they mirrored the era’s “do your own
thing” ethos that merged a whole earth sensibility with fantasy and
escapism. In his search for innovative, expressive forms, Castle’s plastic experiments also underscored his commitment to blur the traditional
boundaries between art, craft, and design. “New concepts will arise,
” Castle once said, “only when we clear our minds of any
preconceived notions about the way furniture should look.”
Text by Donald Albrecht