Phare No.1-9

source: dezeen

Design Miami 2013: designer Simon Heijdens has created a series of hand-blown glass vessels that turn data from wind movement into projected patterns of light.

Heijdens’ Phare No.1-9 consists of nine suspended vessels that contain transparent liquid. A light source at the top of each vessel shines into the water and creates abstract patterns, which project onto the white walls and floor of the installation.

The project, commissioned by Champagne brand Perrier-Jouët and presented at Design Miami this week, is intended as a contemporary interpretation of the Art Nouveau movement.

Art Nouveau, which flourished from the 1890s to the First World War, is known for its florid lines but Heidjens said that its artists exploited the latest technological developments.

“They saw themselves as naturalists, making big lavish botanicals, as natural as possible,” he said. “But looking further underneath that skin, there is a really strong geometry and mathematics to their formal language and to the way the technology of their time was used in their work.”

Phare, which means lighthouse or beacon, takes data from outdoor sensors that monitor the wind and transforms it into a narrow beam of light that shines into the liquid within the vessels. When the light hits a photo-sensitive dye within the liquid, it produces delicate three-dimensional “drawings” in the vessels.

The dye gradually dissipates and becomes transparent again, changing the patterns that are projected around the room.

“It’s activated from above electronically and the dye is activated downwards through the volume of the water,” said Heijdens. “I find it interesting that you get a drawing between sculpture and graphic, because you can walk around it and see it from different angles. The dye is in flux and it dissolves in half a minute.”

Heijdens was reluctant to talk about the technology behind the piece, saying: “The conversation about technology is not one I really want to have because I think it’s not the interesting part of the project. I think the true value of people walking in here, without any baggage or any understanding, hindered by any kind of perception, is just the sudden wonder.”
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source: elledecorit

Phare No. 1-9, la nuova installazione visionaria e sperimentale di Simon Heijdens in collaborazione con Perrier-Jouët a Design Miami/ 2013. Vetro e acqua che interagiscono con la luce e il sole o il vento mutando continuamente l’apparenza della superficie
A Milano, nell’ormai lontano 2006 ci aveva stupito con un albero che perdeva le foglie al passaggio di un ignaro pedone: Tree era in realta’ una proiezione luminosa come Lightweeds, l’opera entrata nella collezione permanente del MoMA.

A Design Miami/ 2013, Simon Heijdens, designer di origine olandese ma con base a Londra, presenta Phare No. 1-9, nuova installazione visionaria e sperimentale. Vetro e acqua che interagiscono con la luce e il sole o il vento mutando continuamente l’apparenza della superficie. Phare è un’opera apparentemente semplice (contenitori in vetro soffiato a mano e sospesi) ma frutto di una tecnologia complessa), concepita su invito di Perrier-Jouët. Il briefing: creare un nuovo work of art che rispondesse ai dettami ispiratori dell’Art Nouveau (nel 1902 l’iconica casa di champagne aveva chiamato a collaborare Emile Gallé).

Come sottolinea Axelle de Buffevent, Style Director di Martell Mumm-Perrier-Jouët: “Phare No 1-9 di Simon Heijdens porta l’ethos dell’Art Nouveau nel XXI secolo e crea un’esperienza emozionale diversa da ogni altra”. L’alta qualità di esecuzione dell’opera unità all’unicità di concezione del progetto esprimono al meglio la sua visione del mondo naturale. E dopo aver sfidato aria, acqua e terra, a Simon non rimane che affrontare il fuoco. Sino all’8/12/2013 a Design Miami/ 2013.