SOLID VOIDS
ART
With her Solid Voids series of objects Birgitte Due Madsen created sculptural forms that are related and respond to each other: concave and convex, spheres and squared, they play with the idea of presence and absence, positive and negative, solidity and voids. It’s rare to see plaster or gypsum used as an exhibition material but in the Danish ceramic artist’s deft hands it is a fluid expressive medium, moulded, shaped and cast, then polished to a velvety surface that begs to be touched.
“I’m really pleased to master a material that invites people to touch it. Contact with gypsum as an exhibition material is rare because it is considered worthy only as a sketching medium before a work is made in marble or other solid materials. But used as the final expression it surprises and attracts with its soft surface and deep reflections of light and shadow. It’s an almost sensual play with the laws of attraction. If you touch the object you get a more sensitive and sophisticated understanding of the craftsmanship behind it as well as the sheer beauty of the surface.”
“If one goes into the basic principles of geometry the possibilities of form are endless. I always work on a piece for a very long time, refining and refining. I trust my instincts and values. Everything has a history and is inscribed with historical contexts and classic disciplines. Making geometry expressive through sculptural form derives from looking at modernists such as Eero Saarinen and Jørn Utzon. By extracting the circular geometry in continued studies of curves I created a relational family of forms connected by a level of abstraction, as a three-dimensional geometry in the intersection between art and design.”
Solid Voids by Birgitte Due Madsen are featured in Case Study: Geometry and the Circles Portfolio in Ark Journal VOL II.
WORDS ARK JOURNAL
PHOTOGRAPHY Henriette Schou and the artist
STUDIO VISIT — CHRISTIAN VENNERSTRØM JENSEN OF BAHRAINI-DANISH
Ideas rather than looks lie at the heart of Christian Vennerstrøm Jensen’s design practice. As one of the trio behind the studio, Bahraini-Danish, the architect starts his explorations from a place of cultural duality.
MODERN MEMOIR — HOME MILAN
Part private base part project, the Milan home of Studiopepe partner Arianna Lelli Mami and photographer Andrea Ferrari is a repository of memories and a composite of their individual and shared aesthetic sensibilities.
PURE VOLUME AND SPACE — HOME COPENHAGEN
An attic apartment by David Thulstrup inspired by his interiors of Noma restaurant exudes humanity and humility with architectural clarity and grace.
SOLID VOIDS
art
With her Solid Voids series of objects Birgitte Due Madsen created sculptural forms that are related and respond to each other: concave and convex, spheres and squared, they play with the idea of presence and absence, positive and negative, solidity and voids. It’s rare to see plaster or gypsum used as an exhibition material but in the Danish ceramic artist’s deft hands it is a fluid expressive medium, moulded, shaped and cast, then polished to a velvety surface that begs to be touched.
“I’m really pleased to master a material that invites people to touch it. Contact with gypsum as an exhibition material is rare because it is considered worthy only as a sketching medium before a work is made in marble or other solid materials. But used as the final expression it surprises and attracts with its soft surface and deep reflections of light and shadow. It’s an almost sensual play with the laws of attraction. If you touch the object you get a more sensitive and sophisticated understanding of the craftsmanship behind it as well as the sheer beauty of the surface.”
“If one goes into the basic principles of geometry the possibilities of form are endless. I always work on a piece for a very long time, refining and refining. I trust my instincts and values. Everything has a history and is inscribed with historical contexts and classic disciplines. Making geometry expressive through sculptural form derives from looking at modernists such as Eero Saarinen and Jørn Utzon. By extracting the circular geometry in continued studies of curves I created a relational family of forms connected by a level of abstraction, as a three-dimensional geometry in the intersection between art and design.”
Solid Voids by Birgitte Due Madsen are featured in Case Study: Geometry and the Circles Portfolio in Ark Journal VOL II.
WORDS ARK JOURNAL
PHOTOGRAPHY Henriette Schou and the artist