He bought the jacket, an old WWII bomber jacket, from a dealer in London a decade ago. It is scuffed, has zipper teeth missing, is torn in places — but all of these ‘imperfections’ are what give the jacket true character and distinguish it from something mass-produced and modern, imparting a personal meaning and bringing with it sixty-odd years of history. Similarly, the window latch, with its tarnished and chipped surface, carries the residue of every piece of human or elemental contact it has had, each moment adding a layer of history and changing the shape of the latch forever.

Reuel is a bowl with a gradually stepped interior that initially appears white, but over time and with use becomes chipped and shows more and more of its champagne gold interior. Made of anodized aluminium, it is simply coated with the white surfacing, and each bowl will separately and individually change depending on the level of interaction from the owner. McCarthy has made a video talking further about Reuel, and you can watch it by clicking the little triangle under the image gallery above.

McCarthy accesses the Stories In Form framework through Interaction, Narrative and Manufacture. Every time the owner interacts by throwing a coin or a key into the bowl, a chip of paint is dislodged and a little more of the inner bowl is exposed. The seemingly violent actions in fact reveal the true beauty underneath. This is closely tied to the manufacturing story, with the hidden story only possible to discern due to the precise design and manufacture.

The narrative element is hinted at by the title of the work. ‘Reuel’ is the second ‘R’ in ‘J. R. R. Tolkien’ — the initials are short for John Ronald Reuel. McCarthy named his bowl after the iconic fantasy author as a nod to the inspiration he drew from the opening verse of Tolkien’s poem All That Is Gold Does Not Glitter, which featured in his The Lord of the Rings books.

You can find out more about the four frameworks employed in Stories In Form by reading the introduction from curator Jacqueline Power here.

Reuel is part of Stories In Form, open at Object Gallery from 27 January — 24 March 2012. For more information about the exhibition click here, and to find out more about Ben McCarthy visit his website.