Faculty of Design

Industrial Design

Daniel Cui

Material Decay: The Impermanence of Man

Material Decay: The Impermanence of Man is a sculptural work exploring the impact of human intervention on nature, as well as nature's resilience, through materiality and form.Humanity's efforts to build and establish physical legacies can be seen as an attempt to make permanent what is ultimately a temporary existence — put face to face with nature's continuous efforts to reclaim its space, there is conflict, negotiation, and balance which makes up a unique dynamic.The piece is composed of found and bought man-made materials which are broken down by 'natural mediators' (moss, rust, algae). Over different scales of time — days, years, millennia, these materials are slowly degraded, their matter returned to the land.Designed and assembled for USM Modular Furniture's HUE+MAN Design Competition, Material Decay was part of their exhibit at DesignMiami 2021.