WIREFLOW DESIGN BY ARIK LEVY FOR VIBIA 2013
WIREFLOW DESIGN BY ARIK LEVY FOR VIBIA 2013
Wire Flow evolves from infrastructure to object,
from industry to beauty, from cable to light ….. a sculpture that can have
endless configurations in space, interact with the three-dimensional space
while keeping its transparent quality and weightlessness sensation.
The wire flows from one point to the other, from
the wall to the ceiling, following the horizontal forms to become an invisible
object in space. It’s just as if my sketch was coming to life, as if a pen
stroke could become energy and imagination reality.
The octagonal light heads are equipped with high
performance LED sources; these are encapsulated in the pressed crystal light
diffuser like magical fireflies enhancing both light distribution in space and
form.
It may grow to any dimension and feature any
amount of lights side by side to its endless references in the neo romantic
world of chandeliers.
www.ariklevy.fr
 |
| Add caption |
ARIK & PIPPO
Levy and Lionni have started together a very
unusual and fruitful collaboration. A pure industrial designer the first, a
pure graphic artist the latter, in their professional practice they come
together as true partners, without forced compromises, but rather helping each
other's ideas shine. What brings them together is not only friendship, but also
a shared attitude toward design, based on experimentation, playfulness,
modernist discipline, and occasional bouts of artistic elation. This short text
is not an exegesis of their work, which is generously illustrated in this
volume, but rather a homage to this odd couple of design and to the issues that
inform their work and that they represent.
ART & DESIGN
Art and design are sometimes very difficult to tell apart. Some individuals do
not consider the distinction necessary at all, and move between the two spheres
only by switching the end goal almost quantitatively : a few collectors rather
than a wider public as the final destination. Most artist/designers and
designer/artists tend therefore to bring the same inspiration to a different
expressive challenge. Donald Judd's furniture, for instance, is as sharp-edged
and minimalist as his art. Ettore Sottsass' photography is as human and
soul-searching as his design.
Arik and Pippo are at home in both universes. They build installations in
galleries and work for commercial clients in order to produce objects in big
series. Their attitude is reminiscent of Bruno Munari, who pioneered this
particular revolution, the wiping away of the distinction between design and
art. "The artist uses imagination, while the designer uses
creativity" the late Italian artist and designer used to say. Creativity,
in his mind, took into account the industrial environment and its needs, the
manufacturing and distribution techniques, as well as the final recipients of
the object. Creativity also enabled him to finalize his own artistic
experiments on forms and materials towards useful goals. The imagination part,
on the other hand, was left up to the owner of the object. So as to not only
let art be for everybody, but also to let everybody be an artist. An art object
that is prone to be used, that humbly shows itself in need of some kind of
human intervention, can be accepted as useful entertainment. Similarly, a
useful object that promises and delivers emotion and surprise, the way an art object
could, is more inviting and can provide new suggestions about how to be used.
Surprise is the connection between art and design, and so is energy. Arik and
Pippo incarnate this blurry distinction.
HERE & THERE
Try asking Arik and Pippo where they are from. At different times, depending on
the mood, they are French, Israeli, Italian, you name it. Although one wonders
what is quintessentially Israeli, Italian, Spanish, or Russian, truth is they
are powerfully modern characters in a country that has written an important
chapter of the history of modernism and which continues to export that
tradition, while also positioning itself at the forefront of the present.
Design is one of the most ancient and spontaneous human activities. Throughout
the course of the centuries, and especially in the twentieth, design has
actively participated in the progressive globalization and re-definition of
visual and material culture. In the process, it has provided some of the most
engaging and advanced examples of how local and global culture can interact and
enhance each other. Arik and Pippo speak in a distinctive worldly tongue that
comprises the characteristics of their eclectic generation, while they draw
generously from their own tradition and the education that they received at
school and at home. As true contemporary designers, they work for a coterie of
international clients and still speak their own languages, without turning to
Esperanto.
SUBSTANCE & STYLE
Lionni and Levy matured as designers at a time of profound changes in design
and in the world at large. Our perspective on the material world has evolved
dramatically during the past decades. After the sensorial and material
overdrive of the Eighties, the jaded inhabitants of the western hemisphere
seemed ready for a new obsession, this time with simplicity and purity. The new
code of action in the field of design was best symbolized by Droog Design (or
"dry design"), the Dutch movement that celebrated a brand of
ingenuity and economy that has been transformed into a coherent minimalist
aesthetic. Droog Design made its first appearance in 1993 and ushered in the
beginning of what some labeled the neo-minimalist era, a healthy and welcomed
systemic revolution that would lower everyone's blood pressure.
Dutch design of the mid-nineties also revealed the emergence of a new balance
between technology and artifacts. All over the world, contemporary design does
not glorify advanced technology in the way it did during the 1980s, but rather
it appreciates technology for its ability to simplify and/or enrich our visual
and material landscape. In other words, for how it can simplify our lives by
making objects lighter, smaller, and less formally obtrusive, as well as less
onerous on the environment.
Arik and Pippo have learned to live in the moment and balance the means at
their disposal against the goal at hand. Their training is somehow deeply
rooted in a modern attitude of economy and sensibility, and the emancipation
from the dictatorship of style has worked to their advantage. After the
stylistic impositions of the past years, in fact, the world privileges
originality of ideas. L Design does not promote a style, but rather
communicates joy in the invention and in beauty, pleasure and humor in the
alliance of creativity, and pride in the display of technical and constructive
skills.
A mere successful synthesis of form and function ceased to be satisfactory a
long time ago. Beauty is a relative and ambiguous definition. The 1970s
intellectual stratagems "for instance the assumption that feelings and
emotions are actually functions themselves" do not seem to work any
longer, either. In our demanding present, we are looking for meaningful objects
that can make a synthesis of all of the above. And meaning is the subject of
play in Pippo's work with symbols especially, symbols which he twists ever so
lightly in order to produce surprise.
TECHNOLOGY & CRAFTMANSHIP
Very high technology can today coexist in a peaceful synergy with very low
technology, and good contemporary design is therefore an interesting
composition of high and low. Some advanced tools, like the latest version of
Photoshop, actually demand manual interference in order to be mastered, while
some low-tech materials that respond (at least in appearance) to ecological needs,
like the cardboard Levy uses for his lamps, initially demand a crafts
intervention because of their essential nature. Experimentation, be it high- or
low-tech, requires a hands-on approach, and the flexibility and novelty of the
materials and manufacturing methods available today has stimulated the
exploration of numerous possibilities.
Designers face today the multiple challenge of a need for old-fashioned economy
of design of means and goals, in order to achieve sensible retail prices,
satisfactory product lifecycles, and adequate socio-environmental precautions;
and at the same time the need to interpret the complexity of a multifaceted and
sophisticated public, who expects objects to be connectible between themselves
and the rest of the world. Today, technology offers designers a new
exhilarating freedom of inspiration. Levy and Lionni have learned to take
advantage of this like in a jazz improvisation, with an elegant nonchalance
that can be acquired only through years of strenuous technical exercise. Energy
drives them in their exploration of materials and shapes, and often leads them
to design statements that are haiku-brief, incisive, and at the same time
open-ended ideas filled with eloquence and meaning.
Paola Antonelli,
Curator of Architecture and Design Department
Museum of Modern Art, New York
http://www.ariklevy.fr/design/texts-about-us
ARIK LEVY
"Creation
is an uncontrolled muscle" according to Arik Levy (born 1963).
Artist,
technician, photographer, designer, video artist, Levy's skills are
multi-disciplinary and his work can be seen in prestigious galleries and
museums worldwide. Best known publicly for his sculptures – such as his
signature Rock pieces –, his installations, limited editions and design, Levy
nevertheless feels
"The
world is about people, not objects."
Hailing
originally from Israel and moving to Europe after his first participation in a
group sculpture exhibition in Tel-Aviv in 1986, Levy currently works in his
studio in Paris.
His formation
was unconventional where surfing, as well as his art and graphic design studio,
took up much of his time back home. Following studies at the Art Center Europe
in Switzerland he gained a distinction in Industrial Design in 1991.
After a stint
in Japan where he consolidated his ideas producing products and pieces for
exhibitions, Levy returned to Europe where he contributed his artistry to
another field – contemporary dance and opera by way of set design.
The creation
of his studio then meant a foray back to his first love, art and industrial
design, as well as other branches of his talents.
Considering
himself now more of a "feeling" artist, Arik Levy continues to
contribute substantially to our interior and exterior milieu, his work
including public sculpture, as well as complete environments that can be
adapted for multi use. "Life is a system of signs and symbols," he
says, "where nothing is quite as it seems."
CURRENT ART
EXHIBITIONS
Atomium,
Brussels – RockGrowth 808 Atomium – public space permanent
installation and exhibition –
2014/04/25
Crystal
Worlds Museum, Wattens – Transparent
Opacity – five-year solo
installation – 09/2012 to 2017
SELECTION OF
ART EXHIBITIONS & INSTALLATION
2014
Louise
Alexander Gallery, Porto Cervo – Uncontrolled
Nature – solo exhibition – 06/2014
Ilan Engel
Gallery, Paris – New Works – solo exhibition – 06/2014
Atomium,
Brussels – RockGrowth 808 Atomium – public space permanent
installation and exhibition –
04/2014
Aeroplastics
Contemporary, Brussels – Full House:
100 artists – group
exhibition – 04/2014
Fondation
EDF, Paris – Que la lumière soit – RewindableLight art video – 04/2014
2013
Galerist,
Istanbul – Activated Nature – 11/2013
Enclos des
Bernardins, Paris – RockGrowth
installation – 09/2013
Musée des
Arts Décoratifs, Paris – selection
of artworks alongside the
exhibition “Dans la ligne de mire” – 09/2013
Vitra Design
Museum, Weil am Rhein – RewindableLight art video – Lightopia group
exhibition – 09/2013
La Maison
Champs Elysées, Paris – Crater_F210 and installation of other
artworks – 09/2013
Galerie
Maubert, Paris – Nouvelle Lune – group exhibition – 04/2013
Alcazar,
Paris – Fractal installation and photo
exhibition (Orchids and Seduction series) – 04/2013
Mitterrand+Cramer,
Geneva – new sculptures – solo exhibition – 03/2013
2012
Passage de
Retz, Paris – Nothing is quite as
it seems – solo exhibition
– 11/2012
Bisazza
Foundation, Montecchio Maggiore – Experimental
Growth – solo exhibition
& permanent
collection –
11/2012
Galerist,
Istanbul – Le Jardin de la
Spéculation Cosmique –
group exhibition curated by Fatoş Üstek –
10/2012
Crystal
Worlds Museum, Wattens – Transparent
Opacity – two-year solo
installation – 09/2012
Alon Segev
Gallery, Tel Aviv – Genetic
Intimacy – solo exhibition
– 09/2012
London Design
Museum, London – Osmosis
Interactive installation
at Swarovski’s Digital Crystal –
Group Exhibition – 09/2012
Jardin du
Hauvel, Saint-Hymer – Art et
Nature – group exhibition
curated by Jean-Gabriel Mitterrand –
06/2012
Hedge
Gallery, San Francisco – Flections – group exhibition curated by
Sabrina Buell – 06/2012
Priveekollektie,
Heusden aan de Maas – Emotional
Deflection – solo
exhibition – 05/2012
Galerie
Maubert, Paris – Le Sacre du
Printemps – group
exhibition – 04/2012
Alon Segev
Gallery, Tel Aviv – Arik Levy
& Guy Yanai – group
exhibition – 03/2012
Stonetouch,
Geneva – Candelabra – group exhibition – Nuit des
Bains – 03/2012
2011
Natural
History Museum, London - installation - Regeneration : Chaton Superstructures at the Natural
History Museum
JGM. Galerie,
Paris – M+C group exhibition
Galerie
Pierre-Alain Challier, Paris – Un
regard d'Obsidienne –
group exhibition
Design Museum
Holon, Israel – Post Fossil:
excavating 21st century creation –
group exhibition –
21_21 Design
Sight gallery, Tokyo – Reality
Lab – group exhibition
You may visit
Arik Levy's web page to see more information to click above link.
