Marcel Mentzel is a young designer from Hamburg, Germany who is extremely fascinating by the way in which materials can become everything you desire and as human beings, how they can react to different stimulus as for example light.
TELL US SOMETHING ABOUT YOU, HOW WAS YOUR PASSION FOR DESIGN BORN?
WHEN YOU CREATE SOMETHING, DO YOU TAKE INSPIRATION FROM SOME SOURCE IN PARTICULAR?
My passion for design clarified after I had quit my first job in shipping industry and had to explore what fascinates me. I back then started with building concrete sculptures which looked like soft forms. I loved the contrast between perception and real haptics. At that time my active creative journey started and a few moth later I started my studies in this field. I take inspiration from geometries but also materials or surfaces itself inspire me a lot. I am extremely fascinated by the reaction of materials and forms related to light and reflection.
WHEN YOU REALISE THE “FLOATING RINGS” SCULPTURE (THAT I REALLY LIKE!) HOW DID THE IDEA OF INFLATABLES COME INTO YOUR MIND?
My general approach is to explore perception through shapes and materials. The "Floating Rings" appear in a way that someone can watch it and at the same time feel the surface. The "Floating Rings" appear in a way that someone can get an impression of the haptical feeling just by looking at the shape and the surface. In many daily situations we create a sense of haptical feeling in our head.
I like the "Floating Rings" especially because it triggers this feeling very strongly because everyone knows these kinds of floating rings and how they actually feel. That makes this impression accessible to everyone. That's one of the core reasons I took this inflatable object.
ONE PROJECT OF YOURS IS CALLED “MORPHINE COLLECTIVE”, WHAT IS IT ABOUT?
Morphine Collective is the name of the design studio I founded together with a fellow student one year after we graduated.
If you will Morphine Collective is my design discipline side, where I work on brand design, but also interior and product design.
My design works are often located on the threshold between art and design as you can see my latest product design the LANGE(R)TISCH dining table. This table is a clean and simple geometric interaction between two materials. The black aluminium surfaces are holding back with its thin lines, while the massive acrylic glass cylinder is heavily reflecting light because of the bold lense effect.
IN YOUR ARTWORKS IS THERE ANY PARTICULAR SIGN OR FEATURE THAT MAKE THEM RECOGNISABLE AS YOUR CREATIONS? I MEAN, LIKE A TRADE MARK?
I would call my works all sculptural in the field of interplay between the geometric shape and the material in terms of reflection and reaction to the surrounding space. My works differ between sometimes more surrealistic appearances and on the other side more related to buildable functional objects. My objects can include functions, but still need to be perceived as an artistic object in the first place which has the ability to be seen as an art sculpture. In second place there can be a functional usage recognised.
Monolith cluster - Marcel Mentzel Divided sphere - Marcel Mentzel
WHAT IS ONE OF YOUR WORKS THAT YOU LIKE THE MOST AND WHY?
At the moment I feel very much attracted to my just released work, the "Circular". This work consists of a basic circle plate, that is welded twice and diagonally trimmed. That's it! Just two steps to disconnect pretty much from the original circle form. And this work also aligns with my current state exploring more in the field of hidden functionality.
Circular object - Marcel Mentzel
IN YOUR WORKS THE COLOUR BLACK PREVAILS OVER THE OTHER COLOURS, IS THERE A PRECISE MOTIVE OR IS IT JUST A CHOICE OF STYLE?
The color black has always been a strong aspect in my works because the color black enables in my eyes the most powerful behaviours with the surrounding light. I almost never use exactly the same "black". Some of my black works are heavily reflecting, while some of them underline the material such as black concrete, black metal or even black leather.
Black directed liquid - Marcel Mentzel Cylindric Brut detail - Marcel Mentzel
WHAT DOES ART AND THE CONCEPT OF “DARING” IN ART MEAN TO YOU?
I think that daring is a fundamental condition for making art.
Are you working on something new or preparing some exhibitions for the future?
Beside my sculptural work I also work on monochrome sculptural paintings, which carry the same fascination and general approach as my other works. I plan a small exhibition this year with my paintings and a few objects such as the LANGE(R)TISCH table sculpture.
LAYERS Painting detail - Marcel Mentzel LAYERS Painting
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Images provided by Marcel Mentzel