Anton Alvarez

Alvarez's work focuses on the design of systems and the creation of tools and processes for producing products, objects and architecture. He created The Wrapping Machine, a tool which creates objetcs by binding the different components that are joined together with only glue-coated thread, no nails or screws. He works with many materials such as wood, steel or plastic. He controlls the mechanism by a foot pedal. Using a variety of colors and styles of thread, he creates differents patterns for the final object, what makes each piece unique and textural.
This new way of making has originated from years of his own personal research, beginning with his background in cabinetmaking and leading into years of conceptual and process-based design research. Alphabets Aerobics takes his work to a new level. This machine builds upon the artist’s previous work and attempts to re-define the method of making and question the role of the artist in the creative process. It removes the artist from the making process entirely; liberating him.
Puzzling is one of his earlier work. He designed a single wood module and industrially multiplied it into thousands. The modules are designed in a way to be joined without glue, and made possible by human hands to combine into eternal repetition. Through this method of assembly, he combines the definitions of industrial serial production with Arts & Crafts. By letting mechanically produced wood modules converge with human repetitiveness, he wanted to reflect the energy of the craftsmanship that assembles these objects.