Design Miami 2013: German architect Juergen Mayer H is exhibiting a sculpture derived from the patterns used on the inside of envelopes to obscure personal information at Art Basel Miami Beach (+ slideshow).
Juergen Mayer H took the squiggly patterns used to mask private data sent in the post as a reference for the Pipapo sculpture.
"The design itself comes from a whole family of sculptural pieces and architectures that are developed out of data protection patterns, which are these camouflaged patterns that you find on the inside of envelopes or when you get the pin code from your bank," he told Dezeen when we caught up with him in Miami.
The piece is made from Caesarstone, an artificial stone moulded from ground natural quartz mixed with adhesives then pressed and cured. Sheets of the material were milled to create the lattice-like patterns then assembled so one surface sits horizontally on two upright planes.
Resembling an architectural model, the design's flat top could be used as a table or bench.
However, the architect created the piece with no particular function in mind. "It's actually an art piece," said Mayer H. "A horizontal sculpture that looks ambivalent. It is what you want it to be. I'm not really interested in disciplines so it's an object that slips between different imaginations of what it can be."
The piece is on display in the Galerie EIGEN+ART booth at Art Basel Miami Beach, which continues until Sunday.
Further information from Caesarstone follows:
Caesarstone is proud to announce its sponsorship of a new artwork by architect Juergen Mayer H, to be unveiled at Galerie EIGEN+ART booth at Art Basel Miami Beach 2013. Pipapo is made of Caesarstone surface from the Supernatural series, with a natural stone pattern delicately milled to create a three dimensional, lattice-like formation.
The work is based on Mayer H's long standing investigation, both in architecture and art, of data protection patterns found, for example, on the inside of envelopes sent by government agencies and banks. Their extremely dense optical pattern aims to protect the personal content of letters from indiscretion and to make sensitive data invisible by presenting a sphere of exclusive knowledge.
Pipapo reflects Juergen Mayer H's fascination with camouflaged digital design and the interrelations of communicative space. The sculpture represents an endless pattern field and plays with dimension and form, the exposed and hidden and the material and the immaterial.
The chosen material is Caesarstone Alpine Mist (5110), a new design part of Caesarstone's Supernatural series which draws inspiration from the beauty of natural stone while exhibiting the exceptional strength, flexibility and durability inherent in all Caesarstone surfaces.
Juergen Mayer H says in regard to the sculpture and his work: "We like to speculate on the potential of new materials for our built environment, to stress the limits of production possibilities and to keep the way we use them free to explore."
"We are extremely proud that Juergen Mayer H chose Caesarstone surfaces for Pipapo. This latest collaboration is yet another opportunity for Caesarstone to evolve, explore and reach new design limits," says Eli Feiglin, VP of marketing at Caesarstone.