«Each of the elements is connected to a motor hidden beneath the table top. «We tried to capture this moment you have with nature sometimes when you go too close and it hides.»
«Champagne is always a moment of celebration that you enjoy but it’s always melancholic as well, because you know the moment is going to end, although you have the hope that the moment will come again,» said Traxler. Around the table there are ultrasonic sensors that detect when people get too close and the elements on the table top become flat.»
The installation also includes two mirrors that feature similar botanical forms on their perimeter and across their surface. «If you are at a big enough distance from the table it starts blooming, and the same with the mirrors. «So we wanted to play on this moment.»
«The species that are used on the table and on the mirror area all related to real species,» he added. So it’s also about the impact of humanity on nature, and the impact we have.»
This is the third year in succession that Perrier-Jouët has collaborated with emerging designers at Design Miami. They become very decorative pieces. Design Miami 2014: Viennese design duo Mischer’Traxler has unveiled a kinetic installation for Champagne brand Perrier-Jouët featuring a table covered in plants that disappear as visitors approach (+ movie). But if you come too close the table becomes flat and the mirrors become functional mirrors.»
Perrier-Jouët asked the designers to interpret its Champagnes and Art Nouveau – with which the brand is associated – for the installation, which is the first in a series of projects Mischer’Traxler will work on for the Champagne house over the coming year. Last year, Simon Heijdens created a series of suspended glass vessels called Phare No.1-9, while in 2012 Glithero produced Lost Time, an installation featuring loops of glass beads. Mischer and Traxler graduated from Design Academy Eindhoven in 2008 and have since worked on a series of acclaimed projects including machines that build baskets out of veneer and a device that turns sunlight into furniture. Related story: Nespresso Battery by Mischer’Traxler»It’s a table made of oak and on top there are water jet-cut metal elements resting in a laser-cut surface,» said Mischer’Traxler’s Katharina Mischer. These elements withdraw into the table or flatten themselves against its top when people approach.
