Austrian design studio Mischer’Traxler spoke to Dezeen in a live interview about its Curiosity Cloud installation, which features at Design Miami 2020.
The live conversation, which was the penultimate instalment of Dezeen x Miami Design Talks, was moderated by Dezeen’s founder and editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs.
Created in collaboration with 200-year-old champagne house Perrier-Jouët, Curiosity Cloud is a chandelier-like installation comprising 22 suspended blown-glass bulbs.
The bulbs come in three different sizes and were blown individually by Viennese glassware company Lobmeyr.
Each of the bulbs contains a hand-made model of a species of insect that is commonly found in the United States, which is intended to speak to Design Miami 2020’s theme of America(s).
The work lies dormant when there is nobody around but the bulbs light up and the insects inside start fluttering when visitors move closer to the piece.
Curiosity Cloud aims to reflect upon the relationship between man and nature, with a particular focus on the impact of human activity and the importance of biodiversity.
The insects are also a nod to Art Nouveau, a style of architecture and design characterised by its references to nature, which gained popularity in Europe and the US at the end of the nineteenth century until the beginning of the first world war.
The style is central to Perrier-Jouët’s brand, as the design for its Belle Epoque prestige cuvee was created by Art Nouveau pioneer Emile Gallé in 1902.
“With its reinvention of nature and combination of traditional craft and modern technology, Curiosity Cloud clearly echoes the ethos of the Art Nouveau movement, which profoundly influenced the cultural heritage of Maison Perrier-Jouët,” said the brand’s style director Axelle de Buffévent.
Mischer’Traxler is a Vienna-based design studio, which was founded in 2009 by Katharina Mischer and Thomas Traxler. This year’s collaboration with Perrier-Jouët honours a longstanding partnership between the design studio and the champagne house.
Previous works to come out of the partnership include a Mischer’Traxler-designed champagne flute that causes bubbles to stream from a small engraved moth, as well as an interactive installation featuring plants made of paper that sprout in reaction to a visitor’s presence.
The full programme for the Dezeen x Miami Design Talks collaboration can be found here.
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