Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/65912
Jeff Zimmerman's Bubble Cluster Two works at Galerie Maria Wettergren treat light as if it were a palpable material. In Monolithe by Swiss artist Helmuth Eigen- mann, a sculpted marble fountain appears to transform dribbles of illuminated water into crystalline drops of sunlight. Sky, a light tapestry designed by Dutch artist Astrid Krogh fluidly and fluently changes color to imitate the behavior of daylight as it approaches night and then dawn. With monitors that diffuse light directly into optic fibers, Krogh's work muddles the boundaries between art, sculpture and architecture. Whether they line an elevator car or a concrete staircase, her site-specific, technologically savvy "tex- tiles" reference some aspect or characteristic of heaven, earth or ocean and engage viewers in an optical dialogue that carries the emotional content of a natural phenomenon. Several pieces in R20th Century's exhibition have a natural history. Once illuminated, the hundreds of bubble-textured globes in Jeff Zim- merman's massive chandelier look as if they host an infinite number of celestial constellations. After manipulating each blown-glass compo- nent by hand with wet newspaper or cork until it warps or kinks, the Kentucky-born master glass artist attaches it to a wire frame and even- tually builds a massive, deflated-looking sculpture that appears to have the capacity to inhale and puff itself up or to effortlessly float away. Paavo Tynell's Snowflake brass chandelier mobile Sky by Astrid Krogh At Galerie Eric Philippe, the stylized lighting of Finnish designer Paavo Tynell is a standout among the wood pieces by Swedish de- signers, including Axel Einar Hjorth. By the late 1940s, Tynell, adapt- ing skills he acquired from a blacksmith and a jeweler, crafted copper, leather, wicker and glass into lighting that humanized countless hotel lobbies, libraries, theaters and restaurants in his native Helsinki. His affinity for nature is always evident, as on a scalloped edge of a per- forated metal sconce, as well as on extended chandelier arms that resemble leafy tree branches or cascading ice crystals. At Priveekollektie, Dominic Har- ris uses technology to concep- tualize a traditional childhood game in which the silhouette of an angel gets carved into a bank of undisturbed snow. A viewer interacts with a panel of light by flapping her out- stretched arms, and the instal- lation responds to the motion by projecting a winged, digital shadow onto a screen. A 3D digital camera captures the bod- ily tracings as they interact with 65,000 individually controlled white LEDs and memorizes a digital portrait. This poetic ma- nipulation of light taps into angel mythology and shares an aesthetic vocabulary with Har- ris' series of iridescent, flutter- ing virtual butterflies. Dominic Harris' Ice Angel CULTURED 93 PHOTO BY SHERRY GRIFFIN (ZIMMERMAN)