Danish designer Stine Mikkelsen explores her mixed feelings about minimalism with In-tangibles, a series of sculptures influenced by family heirlooms and highlighted in our Dezeen x The Mindcraft Project 2021 collaboration.

A part of The Mindcraft Project exhibition of experimental Danish design, the abstract earthy forms of Mikkelsen's great-grandmother's candy bowl, her grandmother's brooch and a sleigh bell passed down through her father's family.

The three objects have huge sentimental value to Mikkelsen but little functional use.

The designer began the project after a house move that made her question her relationship with minimalism — she wanted to keep only the objects she used and needed, but she couldn't part with these items, nor did she want to put them on her shelves.

Instead, she began thinking about whether there was a way to reinterpret them for placement within a contemporary living environment.

The sculptures are moulded from crushed stone and fish glue, a composite material Mikkelsen created in her past graduation project, and the colour comes from the rocks selected.

On top of serving as a visual reminder, each sculpture doubles as storage for the original heirloom.

"It is possible to store the exact belonging inside the associated sculptural object," said Mikkelsen. "In this way the remembrance and memories of the specific piece will be kept alive."

Video is by Benjamin Lund.

Dezeen x The Mindcraft Project

The Mindcraft Project is an annual exhibition presented by the Copenhagen Design Agency to bring the best in explorative and experimental Danish design to the world.

The Dezeen x The Mindcraft Project 2021 collaboration showcases the work of 10 innovative designers and studios from the 2021 digital edition of the exhibition via a series of videos. Watch all the videos as we publish them at: www.dezeen.com/the-mindcraft-project-2021.

Dezeen x The Mindcraft Project 2021 is a partnership between Dezeen and Copenhagen Design Agency. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.