Every June, Design Miami/ Basel commissions a monumental work by an early-career architect or designer offering a platform for experimentation and engagement with an international audience. The Design Commissions are a biannual event, taking place in June as part of Design Miami/ Basel and in December as part of Design Miami/.
Suspended from the ceiling of the entrance hall of the Herzog & De Meuron-designed Basel Exhibition Centre, the forms that make up Jamie Zigelbaum's Triangular Series resemble highly evolved stalactites, blurring the boundary between life and not-life. Pulsing with light and responding with a unique sensitivity to the people sharing the space with them, 59 large, suspended tetrahedra of varying sizes will be scattered throughout the space to create an all-encompassing, immersive environment for visitors as they arrive and depart the fair.
Constructed from translucent acrylic, the refined forms of Triangular Series are the outer shells of a highly sophisticated interactive system. The heart of each form is a synthesis of custom electronics, including high-power LEDs, advanced sensors and software that allows each form to communicate with both individuals in the space, as well as each other. Each form has a luminous respiratory system, a gentle rhythm of illumination that is uniquely its own. As visitors approach each object, their respiration changes and the forms react. The tetrahedrals also communicate with each other, synchronizing rhythms of illumination through an invisible, digitally-mediated dialogue. While each form is itself an individual, synthetic organism, together they act as one - an emergent presence that transcends each's individuality.
In designing Triangular Series, Zigelbaum was interested in communicating the concept of entrainment - a phenomenon affecting both the organic and inorganic worlds by which rhythms fall in step with one another. Entrainment is seen, for example, in the synchronized flashing of Malaysian fireflies, in the human heart rate, and in the way that pendulum clocks placed close to one another will gradually assume the same period. The inventor of the pendulum, Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens, first observed the phenomenon in the 17th century, calling it an "odd sympathy."
Left alone, the light quality and 'respiration' pattern of the Triangular Series forms will likewise fall into synchronicity - the arrival of a moving figure in their space acts as a disruptive force, modifying their behavior; they will switch from cool white to a warm quality of LED light, and respond to the movement of the bodies through the space. "For me, the process of creation is about understanding," says Zigelbaum. "I hope that the process of understanding the world around us is translated through the work. I'm interested in using technology to explain harder-to-communicate ideas; in Triangular Series it is to create a dialogue between organic and inorganic entities." Conceived as rather alien beings in the space, the forms in the series are designed to be beautiful, crystalline, sensate objects, but not necessarily comforting ones.
#TriangularSeries #DesignMiamiBasel
Design At Large
Design Miami/ Basel 2014 sees the inaugural edition of Design At Large, a curated display of inspiring large-scale design installations stationed around the center oculus on Design Miami/ Basel's first floor. Selected from proposals solicited from exhibiting galleries, the Design At Large program will reflect the diverse character of the fair itself, from the recreation of historic interiors to the latest in interactive technology. Dennis Freedman, Creative Director of Barneys New York will serve as curator of the 2014 inaugural program. "The Design At Large program provides a unique opportunity to show work outside the traditional boundaries of the gallery space," said Freedman. "The process was fascinating and results diverse, with installations ranging from a 1956 prototype methacrylate reinforced polyester living unit (Bulle 6 Coques) by Jean Benjamin Maneval to a more recent monumental scale "Drawing Machine" designed by Eske Rex, constructed out of wood, steel, concrete, paper, and a ball point pen."
Freedman's passion for collecting design began in the late 1990's. While studying at university, he became fascinated by the Radical Italian Design movement of the late 1960's featured in such influential magazines as Domus and Abitare and exhibited in Emilio Ambasz's groundbreaking 1972 exhibition, "The New Domestic Landscape" at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), in New York. It was this interest, which would soon unfold with his first purchase; an early edition 1971 Capitello chair by Studio 65. His extensive collection includes a world-class assortment of prototypes and early editions of significant furniture and decorative objects spanning a period of over 50 years - beginning in the early 1960's to more recent designers of today; which include: Superstudio, Ugo La Pietra, Offincina Undici, Martine Boileau, Archizoom Associati, Studio 65, Joris Laarman and Gruppo Strum.
The inaugural Design At Large program features:
Drawing Machine by Eske Rex presented by Galerie Maria Wettergren
Drawing Machine is a construction involving two pendulums, each suspended from a tower and connected through "drawing arms" and moveable joints that are set in motion by hand. A ballpoint pen resting on a drawing surface covered with the paper is mounted at the point where the pendulums come together and the force of the momentum is represented through drawings on paper, serving as a tool which investigates the relationship between time and movement.
Wood Ring by Chris Kabel presented by Galerie kreo
Wood Ring is a circular wooden bench by Chris Kabel, 118 inches in diameter and composed of wooden elements carved in a trapeze shape from a single tree trunk which can reach 33 feet long. Placing the different elements side-by-side, Kabel reproduces exactly the wood grain, which strengthens the majesty and the organic quality of the work. The round-shaped bench is both public and intimate, inviting users to share the internal space, or decide to isolate if facing outwards.
Thread Wrapped Architecture 020514 by Anton Alvarez presented by Gallery Libby Sellers
Commissioned for Design At Large, Alvarez will create 3m high free-standing open structures with his Thread Wrapping Machine. The work is inspired by architectural arches that have been formed through the thread-wrapping process, and is the next exciting stage of development of Alvarez's highly successful wrapped furniture and objects.
Ice Angel by Dominic Harris presented by Priveekollektie
Ice Angel blends the act of youthful playfulness when creating snow angels with modern digital manipulations, making the viewer assume the role of both performer and portrait subject. As the user moves their arms a new wing shape appears, unfurling from the shoulders, moving and displacing virtual snow. The wings are created dynamically and are linked to the participant.
|
