POINT ZERO
THE ICE SERIES
At zero degrees Celsius, the unimaginable happens. Life-giving water turns into solid structures at any point below zero degrees. Plants wither, streams stop. Interesting and beautiful shapes emanate. Coming from below zero degrees, the reverse process is just as dramatic. The natural stillness turns into lively activity. An opaque material becomes transparent and is gone the next moment.
Since 2019, Mette Bentzen and Lasse Kristensen have explored the nature and aesthetics of ice in the Ice Series. They study solid ice structures and express the beauty of them in their pure and organic sculptural furniture. The transition around zero degrees is of special interest to them as the gravitational forces of the melting process create structures of great beauty.
Works in the Ice Series are made of Danish ash wood as the white wood with its subtle tree rings communicate the visual nature of ice well. Now and then, the duo creates a black tinted work as natural ice also can be black.
Meticulous research into the awe-inspiring nature of glaciers has inspired the Ice Glacier pieces set to launch in 2024. Glaciers are unique in the world of ice as they develop and move extremely slowly. Their enormous gravitational forces combined with the glacial speed by which they move through landscapes create dramatic and unique shapes featuring deep cracks as well as soft inviting shapes. The Ice Glacier pieces explore the majestic and dynamic beauty of glaciers. The pieces are lit from the inside also lending the contrast between light and shadow to the unusual pieces. The Ice Glacier pieces are made of Danish maple.
As always, Mette Bentzen and Lasse Kristensen work from a deep connection with their material. All works are only sketched briefly before the intuitive process of sculpting collective memories of nature begins in their hands.