mischer'traxler: 'tioat' at DMY berlin design festival 09

darker, thinner sections indicate times of less sun, while thick, light parts represent periods of more sun image © designboom

at this year’s DMY berlin design festival 09, austrian-based studio mischer’traxler, comprised of katharina mischer and thomas traxler, presented their ‘tioat’ series (‘bench tiaot’ and ‘lamp tioat’). these pieces are the outcome of their earlier project ‘idea of a tree’, a process which uses solar energy to translate the luminosity of the sun into one object a day. the objects of the ‘tioat’ series are souvenirs of the days and places in which they were created.

the ‘idea of a tree’ machine begins when the sun rises and stops when the sun sets. the machine pulls threads through a coloring device, glue basin and winds the threads around a mould to create an object. the length and height, the thickness of the layers and intensity of the colors, refer directly to the amount of sun hours present on a particular day. the dark thin parts indicate periods when there was little sun, while sections of thick layers and paler colors are a result of a lot of sun.

‘tioat’ benches are made through the ‘idea of a tree’ process by mischer’traxler image © designboom

the variations of color indicate the intensity of the sun on the day in which they were produced image © designboom

the ‘tioat’ series is made from viscose thread, colored dyes, glue and epoxy image © designboom

the bench capturing the period of sun rise to sun fall over the course of a day image © designboom

the threads are run through a basin of glue in order to adhere to each other and create a stable structure image © designboom

a view of mischer’traxler’s installation at DMY berlin 09 image © designboom

the process is also applied in the creation of ‘tioat’ lamps image © designboom

‘the idea of a tree’ by mischer’traxler image © designboom

a machine which functions through a mixture of mechanics and natural energy (solar). the ‘idea of a tree’ creates an object each day depending on the amount of sunlight that is available.

the machine is made from stainless steel, electronics and plexiglass, with materials sponsored by altuglasinternational image © designboom

a look at the mechanics of how the machine works image © designboom

how the thread is run through the color and glue basin image © designboom

image © designboom

a basin of color sits on top of the machine image © designboom

mischer’traxler were participants in designboom’s handled with care exhibition in 2007. their ceramic badges are available at our designboom shop.