Cerberus, Keeper of the Gate

Another update on our Exquisite Object project: We asked to creatively describe our objects in terms of their function (both literally and figuratively), the architectural characteristics, a quote relevant to our object, an imaginary user, and to rename our object, thus breaking us away from the temporal qualities of said object. This is what I came up with:

CERBERUS, KEEPER OF THE GATE

“The laughter of a dinner party in the next room, the quiet of solitude, the growling of a beast brooding below”

PROPERTIES:

·         Opaque

·         Metallic

·         Reflective

·         Plastic

·         Solid

·         Smooth contour

·         Curved

·         Bilaterally Symmetrical

·         Linearly and Radially Shaped

FUNCTION:

            Literally, the corkscrew bottle opener opens a bottle by puncturing the cork and removing it from the opening through the upward twisting motion of the corkscrew and the downward radial motion of the wings.

            The corkscrew is, in many ways, a gatekeeper.  It oversees the threshold between our world and the effervescent world beyond the cork.  When we have been granted access, the corkscrew springs into action.  Round and round it turns the key in the lock; the door is pulled away, revealing to us a world of reverie and frivolity.  The world greets us with a symphony that tantalizes our senses; tendrils of fog emerge and shroud us; a faint hiss tempts us to step beyond that threshold.  What we actually experience, however, is a world of deception. What exists there is an ephemeral and superficial happiness, one seen stifling the air of upper class dinner parties.  This world is also one of escape, to which people run, never to fully return.  They eventually blur the threshold so much that it becomes unrecognizable.

ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTERISITCS:

·         Inward shifting of volumes (jutting)

·         Sliding of planes

·         Mass of gears conceals and reveals itself throughout corkscrew’s motion

·         Twisted corkscrew serves as a projection from the main form

·         Gross displacement

·         Stationary form of the object frames a void in which the twisted form rests

·         Central rotation about an axis

USER:

            A high profile bachelor who refuses to admit that he truly does have a drinking problem; he claims to indulge every so often, only having one drink. However, one drink turns to three and three to five. He’s a hapless fool, dwelling too often in the realm beyond the neck of the bottle.