Магнус Петтерсена

source: magnuspettersen

Magnus Pettersen Studio is a design studio creating furniture, lighting and home accessories.
Magnus was born in Sarpsborg, Norway and came to the UK to study Product & Furniture Design at Kingston University and went on to do an MA in Industrial Design at Central Saint Martins.
Since graduating he has worked as a product designer for various studios and clients in London.
Magnus Pettersen Studio was set up in 2010, launching its first product, the Concrete Desk Set in April 2011.

Since then the studio has developed a range of pieces of which some are being launched under the umbrella of internationally acclaimed brands and others being developed In-house.
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source: psychologytomorrowmagazine

My primary mode of artistic expression is painting. From this starting point I also work with sculpture, installation and animation, all of which are created as a direct transformation of the paintings.

The works often revolve around the same basic idea. In the creation of the works I limit myself to using only few and minimal measures, which provides freedom. The differences exist in nuances and the type of media of the works.

The expression in my works is very tightly executed and strives for perfection. The works imitate digital or industrial construction. The surfaces are smooth with no traces of brushstrokes. An effort to move beyond human limitations arises in the works and the execution of the works is questioned. This happens in spite of the fact that the works are created manually.

In the works I often repeat a geometric shape creating a pattern through repetition. With these means I explore the complexity of creating stylized coincidences. The patterns create either expanding grids or frozen movements. Using few means I explore the relationship between surface, weight and perspective.

The same tension is found in the temporal aspect, as the execution of the works is a very slow process. The works may have been created much faster using digital and industrial methods.

In my works I borrow from digital media, science fiction, architecture and pop culture. From these I adopt aesthetics and techniques and integrate them directly in the works.

Collectively, these fragments constitute a universe in which I explore the boundaries between the different elements. The works strive for a cool though complex beauty. They seek a stringent harmony – and seek to oppose it at the same time. For example, I attempt a choice of colour that breaks with an immediate harmonious expression.

The works seek to fill the surface/space and at the same time to dissolve or diffuse it. With their smooth surfaces they exude a distance, but with their frequently airy patterning they also exude depth.

With these works I seek to meet the viewer in a both visual and bodily experience. Here the volume of the works plays a role. The works encourage wonder in the viewer due to their often indefinable material and multi-medial character. I do this in order to avoid associations to specific references and thereby allowing for several interpretations.