WORLD EXPO 2017 ASTANA
This surface is ultra-thin: just 6 mm of aluminum. If an egg were scaled up to the same height Minima | Maxima, it would be much thicker. Towards the base of the structure, the rolling surface begins to softly corrugate, its zig-zag angles gently rising into a full pleat as they meet the ground platform. The visual threshold of this transition — from pleated base to smooth and doubly-curved, continuous surface — is subtle, yet its structural effect is significant in achieving the height of 43′.

The Hive  Kew Gardens

“The proposal involves the idea of ​​’temporary’ in an interesting way. It uses the temporary aspect of the installation to carefully engage with the purpose and short and long-term needs of the land,” said the judges. Originally designed for the Expo 2015 from Milan, The Hive was transferred to Kew Gardens, in central London, for two years, where it was part of an event space. Designed to give visitors a glimpse into the life of working bees, the pavilion was built with 169,300 individual aluminum components equipped with hundreds of LED lights. As the meadow surrounding the structure grows, several species of plants begin to flourish, bringing with them the sounds of real bees that enhance the multi-sensory experience of the pavilion.The aesthetic and symbolic installation represents its namesake, with the aim of showing visitors the importance of protecting the honeybee.

Scale
‘scale’ is an interspecies art project: an audience-interactive installation that involves nocturnal electric fish from the Amazon River Basin. Twelve different species of these fish comprise a choir whose sonified electrical fields provide the source tones for an immersive audiovisual environment. The fish are housed in individual tanks configured in a custom-built sculptural arc of aluminum frames placed around a central podium. The electrical field from each fish is translated into sound, and is thus heard — unprocessed or with digital effects added, with immediate control over volume via a touchscreen panel — through a 12-channel surround sound system, and with LED arrays under each tank for visual feedback. All software is custom-designed. Audience members interact as deejays with the system. Amongst the goals of the project is our desire to foster wider public awareness of these remarkable creatures, their importance to the field of neurological research, and the fragility of their native ecosystem.The project leaders comprise visual/conceptual artist Marlena Novak, composer/sound designer Jay Alan Yim, and neural engineer Malcolm MacIver. MacIver’s research focuses on sensory processing and locomotion in electric fish and translating this research into bio-inspired technologies for sensing and underwater propulsion through advanced fish robots. Novak and Yim, collaborating as ‘localStyle’, make intermedia works that explore perceptual themes, addressing both physical and psychological thresholds in the context of behavior, society/politics, and aesthetics.

Shorter than the Day
The New York-based artist captures the sky as it changes from cerulean blue morning to a colorful sunset to the many shades of night through nearly 1,000 photographs of the sky. Each printed image is fastened to the aluminum and steel with alligator clips and is revealed as viewers move around the massive work, just like the earth circles the sun to mark a day.

АЙРИС ВАН ЭРПЕН
イリス ヴァン ヘルペン
Autumn/Winter 2019
This season van Herpen collaborated with American kinetic sculptor Anthony Howe, whose pieces are powered by the wind. His spherical Omniverse sculpture had pride of place in the Élysée Montmartre venue. The designer said she was compelled by the way its arching vertebrae, spinning on a curving axis, simultaneously expand and contract. Her finale dress was made in the image of Omniverse, with rotating wings constructed of aluminum, stainless steel, and feathers.

Freeze Multi Circle Table
In Freeze, Cocksedge exploits freezing temperatures to create a seamless bond between metals that otherwise do not adhere in nature. The breakthrough in the series – a table of copper and aluminum – was made by first burying four copper legs in snow, leaving them to contract by 100th of a millimeter; second, excavating the legs and inserting them into holes cut into an aluminum slab where they were allowed to un-freeze back to ambient temperature thereby firmly locking into place in a strong, invisible join.