Dominodomino
Dominodomino, 2015
Installation in collaboration with Dan Sullivan
Jatoba wood, Corian inlay, limited edition prints
Consisting of a modern-style handcrafted domino table and chairs, DominoDomino is a collaborative project between conceptual artist Edra Soto and Dan Sullivan, a furniture designer. Alluding to high-end design, Soto and Sullivan’s domino table is made from jatoba, an elegant hardwood, and inlaid with corian, an industrial surface material. The work serves as a stage for community and conversation building, as visitors are invited to try their hand at a game of dominoes. The repetition in the installation title plays on the various associations in Spanish of the word “domino”—one being power or domination—and underscores the immersive character of the work.
Soto has a personal and cultural relationship to the game, but never encountered domino tables designed in a mid-century modern style, such as this one. After Soto and Sullivan visited the city of Ponce in Puerto Rico and saw outdoor domino tables made from concrete, Soto invited Sullivan to create a participatory installation mimicking the design of the park tables. The piece explores the relationship between design and social interactions arising from the domino game, at the same time as it collapses the distinctions between high-design furniture and contemporary art.
