BEST IN SHOW 09
METALLIC ENVELOPE - BARAK YAHAV

“I am an artist and was looking for art/design opportunities on the internet. I came across the Art of the Envelope competition and thought it could be a good idea to explore the envelope from an artistic point of view.
To me the envelope represents the casing through which a personal message and the communication of thoughts and ideas can be passed, presented or sent from one person to another. Having that in mind I looked at its history and its future and felt that in our ever changing world, with the immense advances in technology and communication, one of the ways to preserve and revive the humble envelope will be to approach it from a different prospective.
Keeping in mind its purpose as a casing I decided to push it beyond the paper. I wanted it to be universal, easily recognisable, long lasting and keep its personal touch, so I choose stainless steel as the main medium for two reasons: for its high mirror polish to reflect and so address it to the person looking into it; and for its quality as an extremely durable and enduring material to give the piece permanence and represent our ever lasting desire to communicate and connect. In contrast to that for the stamp and letters I choose copper, an extremely malleable metal to represent the ever changing and wonderful ways we invent to fulfill that basic need.”
Barak Yahav 2009