Copulating couples can be spotted among a crowd of tiny figurines under the surface of Rolf Sachs's latest table.

Called Alone in a Crowd, the piece was presented with Cologne gallery Gabrielle Ammann at Design Miami/Basel in Switzerland last week.

A clock's hands are also mounted under the table's glass surface, passing above the heads of the tiny figures.

Other new work presented included a series lamps titled Curiosities, made from mirrored glass display domes housing objects like a rat on a pile of discarded plastic and a skull filled with pills.

Above: Addict-us. First featured in 2007 in the Selfridges surrealist window display, Sachs presents the scientific skull head filled with multi-purpose pills to demonstrate humans’ addictive tendencies in our modern society.

More about Rolf Sachs on Dezeen:

Fortis Watch (November 2008)
Take 2 (April 2008)

Here's some more information from the gallery, who also provided the captions:

For his second new collection of 2010, celebrated designer Rolf Sachs will be showing four new limited edition furniture and lighting pieces at the 5th Design Miami/Basel in June 2010 at the gabrielle ammann // gallery. His ‘flawless/imperfection’ collection was presented at the Studio Visconti during the Salone del Mobile in Milan earlier this year and received high acclaim.

True to his style, Sachs remains seduced by the ongoing traces of life and depicts many of these traits within his work. Recognized for his distinctive multi-disciplinary approach, he continues to collaborate with skilled craftspeople, using materials and objects he considers to have ‘an inner soul’ - from felt and hand-blown glass to wood. Sachs likes to celebrate existing objects of everyday life by taking them out of their usual context and reinterpreting them in an experimental manner that reflects his passion for surrealism, humour, and a sense of integrity.

New limited edition pieces for Design Miami/Basel 2010 will include:

Above: Rattus maximus. An albino rat stands like the ruler on top of a world of random, everyday household rubbish, such as peanut, egg and clam shells, sardine, cat food and coke cans, coffee capsules, an analogue clock and broken glass…to name a few. A sponge printed with the word ‘Leitkultur’ is amongst the pile and cunningly challenges the concept of ‘Leitkultur’, a German terminology mocking the concept of intellectuals that follow only one ruling paradigm of culture.

Alone in a crowd

Sachs’ ‘alone in a crowd’ table re-visits the theme of using miniature scale figures, similar in principle to his piece titled ‘alone’ from 2006. Under the glass surface, Sachs has personally placed 511 Preiser* miniature figures representing all walks of life, genders and ages. From afar, one sees only groups and crowds yet when seen up-close, you recognize that each figure is entirely individual and you can discover random and humorous frames of everyday life.

Barely any of the figures interact with the exception of society’s crucial units, such as families, couples and lovers.

The dramatic juxtaposition of scale puts our own existence in perspective and leads us to realize that ultimately in life we stand alone.
The clock hands pass above the crowds and demonstrate that we are all only temporary.

*Preiser is the world’s foremost manufacturer of miniature figures, usually used for architectural models. The figures can be produced in different scales and are all hand-painted. The models used in ‘crowded but alone’ are in HO scale (1:76).

Above: Pullus domesticus. At the centre of the dome sits a pristine skeleton, which looks at first like that of a small dinosaur, yet, the comedy lies in the fact that it actually belongs to an everyday, domestic chicken. The resulting aesthetic, with its hundreds of reflections, is surreal, intriguing and unexpected.

Curiosities – dome light series

Sachs gets nostalgic with this collection, by revisiting glass display domes, which he first explored six years ago in his ‘peephole’ collection. His three new lighting designs - ‘addict-us’, ‘rattus maximus’ and ‘pullus domesticus’ offer a surrealistic reinterpretation of the content of typical museum displays.

Each dome is mirrored and contains an integrated light source, which allows the illuminated mirror coating to become virtually transparent, unveiling a unique hidden surprise at its centre. The reflections created on the inside mirrored surface of the dome are intriguing and mysterious as each time you look, you will discover something new. Each dome will be unique in a series of 17 and all in a typical Sachs manner - unpredictable and humorous.

See also:

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Take2 by Rolf Sachs	Fortis IQ watch by Rolf Sachs	More about Design Miami/ Basel 2010