Designed and operated by Kevin Burnett, OBJETS DaDa is shop of artful, functional and sculptural objects for an unordinary life. Each is distinctive, beautifully made, and produced to last.
The name?
pronounced: ob-jay dah-dah
'OBJETS DaDa' is a play on words, mashing objets d'arts (a French term for small, 3D decorative items valued for their aesthetic appeal, high-quality material, and craftsmanship) with Dada (the 20th-century international art movement that created a new language of resistance within the arts).
ODDables
Every ODD piece has a certain ‘presence’ – it’s a combination of design, craftsmanship and love – and they’re made from materials that last. They might be one offs or mass produced objects still in production, including products created by Kevin. If they’re not heirlooms from the past, they’re likely to be in the future.
Whether designing new products or sourcing ODD objects, the question it needs to satisfy is:
Does it carry something forward?
OBJETS DaDa operates from a physical shop in Melbourne, Australia, and here online.
There's no hiding it from Kevin
Having worked in durable materials for most of his career, Kevin has maker knowledge and design instincts. When out fossicking for ODDables, it's his eye and touch telling the difference between hand-cast, forged, slumped or machined. It's bloody hard to pull the wool over his eyes and it's something he'd never do to you.
Who is Kevin Burnett?
Kevin's been drawing on walls since childhood. He grew up in Perth, Western Australia, where he graduated in graphic design before moving to Melbourne to study and teach fine art. Running a fashion business in Fitzroy, Kevin and his then partner designed, manufactured and retailed clothing. Kevin had been experimenting with metal and, when the fabrics ran out, established The Red Falcon – a foundry for artistic blacksmithing, hand forging metal using traditional methods.
It was Fitzroy in the early 1990s and The Red Falcon took off: a design studio and fabrication factory for metal and glass, doing a wide array of projects from traditional wrought iron through to high-end architectural stainless and structural steelwork. The work was always about more than the making.
“Sculpture is my passion. As a blacksmith I loved working on bespoke handcrafted solutions that were more than ornamental. The work was always about bringing form and art into people’s everyday lives. And curves! Everyone needs more curves in their life.”
Kevin hung up his blacksmithing apron to focus on freelance design and his own product lines. He fell in love with a fabulous woman and together they created OBJETS DaDa. They can't remember whose idea the shop was to begin with.