AUSTRIAN artists Katharina Mischer and Thomas Traxler found their creative kindred spirits in each other while studying at university.
After graduating from the Design Academy Eindhoven in the Netherlands in 2008, the pair decided to form Vienna-based design team Mischer’ Traxler Studio.
“After five years of studying and still working on projects together, we decided to stick together and start a company,” Mischer said.
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READ NOW“We are trained designers and work on objects that are more related to the design world.
“They can be big installations, practical objects, furniture pieces, lights, kinetic installations; we have a big variety of projects.”
The duo’s latest project has them visiting Perth with exhibition Mischer’ Traxler LeveL and Volumes presented at FORM’s The Goods Shed.
LeveL is the biggest piece in the exhibition.
It took nine months to make, fills the lower level of The Goods Shed space and was inspired by the notion of utopia by design.
“We discussed a lot about what utopia could be about and networks and how things are interconnected,” Mischer said.
“If you ever achieved a perfect utopia and took one element out, the whole utopian system would collapse, so we tried to translate that to a big kinetic light mobile.
“There are 63 rods, some of them 2m long, and at each end there is a light source and a lampshade.
“It is static and in perfect balance but once the wind blows or someone touches it and it starts moving, the light begins to dim.”
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Volumes includes four pieces Mischer and Traxler have worked on over the past six years which corresponded with LeveL and includes another kinetic interactive art installation, Curiosity Cloud, featuring mouth-blown glass bulbs.
Traxler said they hoped people had an emotional reaction to their works, especially with the interactive projects.
“The design in itself is more about connecting elements and looking at things differently,” he said.
The pair has followed the opening of this exhibition with a FORM residency in Albany until December 12.
“We want to be inspired by our surrounding and start looking at pieces for a new project,” Traxler said.
Artworks developed from their residency will premiere at The Goods Shed in 2017.
THE ESSENTIALS
What: Mischer’ Traxler LeveL and Volumes
Where: The Goods Shed, Claremont
When: showing until mid February 2017