Design | Dimensional Translations, Sigve Knutson’s ‘Drawing Objects’

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Translating two-dimensional forms into three-dimensional ones is a task many artists strive to achieve, and Norwegian designer Sigve Knutson has done just that. But Knutson goes another step further in his Drawing Objects collection taking into the consideration not only the forms he has drawn, but also the kinesthetic and tactile quality of those forms and the spacial presence they may occupy.

“I was interested in the act of using force to make something flat into a volume and using an outline as a mold to control the shape of the volume. Traces of the production become the surface of the objects as each piece is a hammered into it’s shape.”

Featured image: Sigve Knutson, Red Clay Sculpture, 16 x 12 inches.

Knutson’s objects were featured during Milan Design Week (April 18 – April 22, 2017) and are now on exhibition at Carwan Gallery in Beirut (May 29 – July 14, 2017). Knutson employs such materials as clay, aluminum, silicone and ceramic to create his renderings, Dezeen writes. For some of the objects, their intended function is obvious, while others appear to be more sculptural.

For Knutson, drawing directly and naturally expresses the unique qualities, intuition and aesthetics of a designer. Transforming those drawings into three-dimensional volumes neither obfuscates or modifies that expression, according to his artist statement. Knutson, in fact, displays his drawings alongside their object counterparts.

Traces and marks from the production are left visible on the surface of the objects, making a stronger connection with drawings. The intuitive and personal are not smoothed away, but they become the foundations from the objects are born.

Knutson explains that a series of objects casted in plaster molds are made in the dimensions of international paper sizes ranging from A0 to A8. The blocks of plaster then replace the paper as he freely and intuitive carves any shape into them, making it a mold for casting various materials.

About the artist: Sigve Knutson (b. 1991, Norway) is an experimental designer based in between Oslo and Eindhoven. He obtained an MA in Contextual Design at Design Academy Eindhoven in 2016. His practice is motivated by a drawing mentality and a fascination for the intuitive and playful rather than the smoothened and planned. Through a series of methods and material combinations that allows for intuition and spontaneous actions, he aims to make his objects in the same way as he would make a drawing.

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