glass research / series of objects , 2019-2022

I see my works as portals to a conceptual and physical understanding of space.

The series Archetypes & Prototypes also stems from this approach, but because these works are directly inspired by digital technologies, their ability to serve as alternative and abstracted realities is even more convincing.

Digital technology increasingly takes over our daily lives and perceptions, where the physical is imperceptibly exchanged for the virtual. This gradual shift in our frames of reference and in our perception of what is real greatly intrigues me. Parallel to the changing perception of the world, our understanding of digital devices themselves is also constantly distorting. While these smart instruments become more advanced, they simultaneously become more minimalistic and sleek in design. Behind their by now-iconic façade lies a technological reality that we have little understanding of. Strangely enough, this discrepancy enhances their seductive nature; digital gadgets have become irresistible to all of us. This contradiction between attractive appearances and elusive content creates a tension between aesthetics, functionality, and our expectations. Completely stripped of functionality, these glass laptops, desktops, and smartphones play with our expectations and behaviors. Originally intended as purely functional, they are reduced here to objects of desire, and within this desire, our zeitgeist is reflected.

At the beginning of my career, I often worked with books. An open book gave me the feeling of a very intimate interior, but I could also see and approach it as a public space, like a ‘stage’ where any story was possible. By now, an open laptop has replaced the open book. In the space of an open laptop, I can fit an entire landscape. The hinge where the screen and keyboard meet has become a horizon. A laptop screen can also be transformed into a window with blinds that offers a view of the outside world. At the same time, a desktop stares back at me from the corner of my workspace like Big Brother or perhaps pulls me inward like a black hole.

On a screen, all sense of scale and materiality is lost. A large part of this effect arises from the role that glass plays as a material both within digital technologies and in my objects. The relationship between glass and daylight is convincing yet elusive. Its reflective character and light-transmitting nature give these objects a variable quality that compels the viewer to observe closely and immerse themselves in the work.