Wandervoid
"This project was developed for the exhibition Safe Spaces during the summer of 2021 in the ARCAM Amsterdam. An exploration in space without a pre-determined program. For this speculative design we were inspired by the painting of René Magritte called ‘La reproduction interdite’, a painting that shows the reflection of man standing in front of a mirror, but you can not see his face.
“Intensifier is a linguistic term for a modifier that makes no contribution to the propositional meaning of a cause but serves to enhance and give additional emotional context to the word it modifies. The design aims to do precisely that in a spatial way.
Project: Wandervoid - Intensifier
Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Program: undefined public space
Size: 400 m2
Client: ARCAM
Status: Finished exhibition (2021)
Client: ARCAM
Status: Finished exhibition (2021)
Design team: Matter Makers as part of a team with Studioninedots
painting by René Magritte called ‘La reproduction interdite’
Intensifier has been designed not as an object, image, or artifact on its own, but an installation that relies on the viewer as the medium. As it distorts and multiplies light and sound it calls into question the lenses (both mechanical and cultural) that limit or expand our spatial experiences.
Each moment of the day a different feeling is amplified as the surrounding and the content changes. Turning the viewer into an active co-producer of the work the intensifier deals in various ways with perceptions of reality, reflexivity and self-reflexivity. Any activity that takes place in the intensifier is amplified by the space. Any thought, sound or movement is copied and distorted immediately, similar to the contemporary world we live in. Without viewers the space has no meaning. As soon as the smallest thing happens, it is a hyperactivated space that is almost immediately too much to experience. The design of the intensifier is an experiment in how we can reflect on time and society. It is designed to let the unknown happen, to let the viewer wonder and reflect. In an ever accelerating society there is a much needed space to reflect upon yourself and the world around us.
