Bespoke Stools & Cycle Stands, ALDI, Abingdon-on-Thames, Oxford

Public Artist Tom Pearman was commissioned by Aldi UK and Abingdon-on-Thames Town Council for a series (3 in total) of bespoke stools, 500mm diameter x 550mm high, and bespoke stainless-steel cycle stands for their new car park and entrance area. The stools were based upon oven dials and the cycle stands upon various food types. As part of the programme, Tom worked with art students at Abingdon & Witney College creating a series animated GIF files of domestic switches turning on and off to be displayed in the supermarket entrance lobby. The students made gif files of kitchen appliances turning ON and OFF. The theme of the artworks was designed to complement the OVEN DIAL STOOLS recently installed in the store’s exterior. Tom collaborated with IP Surfaces and chose a Royal White Granite for the stools with an inlaid Premium Black granite element and inlaid 50mm diameter Hi-macs (3 colour types) also 130mm x 130mm premium Black granite inlaid into top with sandblasted artwork. Dowel holes were drilled into the base with recesses for logistics and offloading. The stainless-steel cycle stands were all waterjet-cut into various food-type symbols for the canopied area at the side of the store.