Phantoms and Fall

Boyce is interested in modernist art and design and its survival in the contemporary world. His work explores the interface between high art and popularised design, for example the widespread use of Eames' chairs throughout Californian primary schools. In this mobile, Boyce has re-worked the plywood leg splints which were designed by Ray Eames. These splints were commissioned by the US Army during World War Two using lightweight materials developed by the US government at that time. Boyce is fascinated by this dual heritage and develops it further by projecting a kind of after-life for the splints as a 'classic' modern mobile, in the style of Alexander Calder but also of Ray Eames' own sculptures.