10 Questions With… Dustin Yellin

Inside the studio—a warehouse he renovated down the street from his multidisciplinary art center Pioneer Works—Yellin relies on natural light as well as Ketra lighting by Lutron, merging the day’s fluctuating hues with shades he can tune and control. “Like a fly caught in amber, my works act as a kind of time capsule,” he says. “Instead of hosting fossils, I embed human artifacts, typically images sourced from print media, within in such a way that we, as a species, become the specimen.”   

Read Interior Design’s interview with Yellin about finding the right light and the performative aspect of his sculptures.

Interior Design: The invention of the moving image owes much to lighting. What role does light play in your idea of “frozen cinema,” in other words suspending an image to stillness? 

Dustin Yellin: Goethe once said that “architecture is frozen music.” My use of the term “frozen cinema” is an update to his idea that through pattern, plan, and frame, an artist can breathe narrative into fixed forms. Like architecture, and unlike cinema, sculpture requests the observer to experience art through a body in motion in space and time, which is never constant. In a sense, I employ two forms of scenography; one that is pictorial, while the other relies on an active viewer who becomes their own director scripting encounters with the work in real space and in real time. I find that the difference between stillness and animation is really just a matter of time.   

ID: Could you talk about your relationship with glass as a form of craft and a conceptual medium? 

DY: Glass is a paradoxical medium; it is both strong and fragile while it also attempts to show itself and hide at the same time. Duchamp once said something to the effect that the best art exhibits an ambiguity of experience that is not one thing or the other, but is both one thing, and something else at the same time. To answer in the negative, the only thing I am against conceptually in art is the dichotomy between either/or states of being.  

ID: Light, whether natural or artificial, is critical in an artist’s life in studio, one that even determines the artist’s use of the space. What is your relationship with light from conception of a work to its final form? 

DY: All vision is predicated on light, and yet we often take light for granted. Glass by its very nature does something extortionary to all forms of light: it bends it. And while painting reflects light, glass acts as both a prism and a filter that makes legible how photons move around the work and around us. As an analog, my glass works are more like sensors that allow each viewer, and myself, to build sensitivity to the nature of light itself.    

ID: Why is midday sunlight your favorite? 

DY: Midday’s lack of shadows chips away at the object-hood of glass, transforming it into something more akin to an instrument, whether that be a window, a mirror, or a prism.   

ID: Light lives through a constant shift through movement, similar to your sculptures that invite viewers to rotate around them. How do you orchestrate this sense of mobility for your audience? 

DY: My works have different edge conditions that each provide different ways and moments of seeing the work. As sculpture exists in four dimensions, the act of the observer moving around and through these different conditions allows a suit of shifting views that merge, develop, and emerge yet again out of these situations and their borders. This movement allows the work to always be in a state of “becoming.”  

ID: Exhibiting Psychogeographies in spaces associated with dance creates an interesting contrast between movement and stillness. Could you talk about your projects for Lincoln Center in New York and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. through this aspect? 

DY: There is an adage that the rests between notes give music its soul. Movement and stillness are already wed, just as darkness is to light. Each defines and clarifies the other; without one there cannot be the other. Jung mentioned that the human condition is one of duality, and that art is the expression par excellence of this reality.  

ID: Psychogeographies consists of paintings and sculptures. How do you see these play with dimensionality? 

DY: Since the Renaissance, Western art developed a form of painterly perspective based on foreshortening and geometry. The Modernists countered this illusion by flatlining the picture plane to assert the flatness of the canvas. Instead of seeing these two modes as antithetical, I mix both together so that the shift between each technique produces a “3rd depth”.  As my works are three dimensional objects comprised ostensibly of sets of layered picture plains, I also move along the z-axis through these plains to provide a further play of depth through the relation between classical perspective and scale in real space.  

ID: Scale is another critical element, almost similar to miniature art in which minuscule elements build a narrative altogether. Can you share a bit about your process of using small bits to form larger narratives? 

DY: Each work is a microcosm in which the individual parts never lose their own unique identity. They also work together as a community of images to produce a larger systemic image at the same time.  

ID: You create work-on-paper studies of your sculptures but also use paper bits inside the works. Could you talk about your relationship with paper?  

DY: Since the beginning of time, people have made marks to record their existence. These marks endure and circulate long after as a collection of shared experience. There are many words for this greater body of knowledge, be it consciousness or culture. In a sense, I feel that I tap into this long conversation by sourcing other people’s marks, and then reconfiguring these items with mark-making of my own. By preserving these histories in glass, I can sustain that long conversation.  

ID: Pioneer Works is a space that proves the multimedia direction art-making has evolved into in recent years. Many artists and designers refuse categorization of their practices. How do you see the center’s impact on your work and vice versa? 

DY: Pioneer Works is a “museum of process” in which we support the continual development of all disciplines and practices through experimentation and production. I feel that as we support others, we advance ourselves. Pioneer Works is my life practice; they are one and the same.  

Chris Bogia’s Candle Sculpture Illuminates Fishers Island, New York

Shag carpet, Atari, floral wallpaper, West German pottery, embroidery. These are among the varied influences that have shaped Chris Bogia’s mixed-media sculptures, which masterfully meld the approachable and homespun with a Scandinavian-esque sleekness. Bogia, who recently proclaimed, “I love interiors!” and worked for Todd Oldham during college, is also the cofounder of Fire Island Artist Residency, off Long Island’s southern shore, an experience that may have contributed to his latest installation on another islet—and his first outdoors: Candle on Fishers Island, about 5 miles east of the Connecticut coast.

Bogia was awarded the annual public-art commission from Lighthouse Works, a nonprofit organization celebrating its 10th anniversary that’s devoted to encouraging artist development and Fishers’s year-round cultural enrichment. “In my research, I thought about mid-Atlantic summer communities and their homes clad in shingles and shutters. One of the shutters I discovered had a small cut-out of a candle, which inspired me to think of the candle as a sculpture,” explains the artist. He scaled that motif way up, chose a palette that evokes “the faded colors of well-loved beachwear,” and had it fabricated in aluminum. He then fitted the shaft with an LED so the “flame” is illuminated at night, like a lighthouse.

Bogia grew up in Wilmington, DE, and earned his MFA from Yale in New Haven, CT, but has otherwise spent his adulthood in New York City. He graduated from NYU, where he currently teaches sculpture, has his studio in the South Bronx, and is represented by Mrs., the Queens gallery that just hosted his second solo show. A few blocks north, he’s part of a group exhibition at Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art & Storytelling through August 20. Farther afield, his work is on display at Wasserman Projects in Detroit, also through August 20, and he is currently preparing for a show opening September 3 at Perrotin gallery in Paris.

A Tiny Concrete Structure by Bobby Niven Offers Writer Residencies in Scotland

Bobby Niven is an artist’s artist. A sculptor who’s had solo shows throughout the U.K. and Canada, he also devotes part of his practice to the Bothy Project, a network of simple shelters he’s designed across Scotland, each a unique response to the surrounding landscape and an invitation to artists to retreat in them off-grid. So, when it came time to commemorate the 700th anniversary of the Declaration of Arbroath, a document listed by UNESCO on the Memory of the World register that essentially called for freedom from English claims of sovereignty over Scotland, with a small building devoted to creativity on the grounds of the 12th-century Arbroath Abbey, Niven was selected for the commission. “The history includes monks who could transcribe and illustrate documents, even bound manuscripts into books, in the abbey’s scriptorium. The ability to read, write, and convey information and document history was as powerful then as it is today. I sought to reflect that activity in the structure’s interior,” he says.

Prefabricated off-site, the 160-square-foot installation, called The New Scriptorium, was trucked to the 3 ½-acre grounds, sited so that it’s generous window frames picturesque abbey views. Mounted on some interior walls are long limblike sculptures in colors inspired by those in medieval manuscripts. Their embrace, the bright of the skylight, and the warmth of the woodburning stove should help to inspire writers during their one-month residency.

CLB Architects Creates an Accessible, Arboreal Retreat in New York

CLB Architects combined weathering steel, reclaimed timber, and plant life into an accessible arboreal retreat in New York.

Archicad drawings of FILTER, the temporary in­stallation that Wyoming-based CLB Architects created for the 2022 edition of NYCxDESIGN’s Design Pavilion, were used to de­ter­mine how pre-assembled pieces could be easily com­bined into a self-supporting structure that resembled the rugged landscape of the firm’s home state.

The Times Square billboards provided lighting during building, which began at 11 p.m. due to municipal regulations.

FILTER was ADA–approved thanks to its two accessible reclaimed-larch ramps, which were specifically designed so guardrails were not necessary.

The centerpiece was a 20-foot-tall, certified organic London planetree, selected for its resilience in urban environments, grown at Raemelton Farm in Adamstown, Maryland, and trucked to the site.

The tree sat in a basin of hot-rolled weathering steel at the center of the 24-foot-diameter pavilion, where the floor and built-in benches were made from reclaimed glulam fir and larch.

Randi Renate Creates a Permanent Installation in Elizabethtown, New York

Hiking the High Peaks region in New York’s Adirondack Mountains during the pandemic lockdown, Randi Renate was struck by the enveloping cerulean sky. It inspired the artist to create blue is the atmospheric refraction I see you through, a permanent installation now on the grounds of the Adirondack History Museum in Elizabethtown. Among the other influences on the 14-foot-tall, spherical structure are Renate’s studies in biology and oceanography, her myriad readings on distance, subjectivity, and connection, and Bluets, Maggie Nelson’s book-length ode to the color.

Renate began the sculpture by crafting a ceramic model, and then visiting the museum to pitch it to director Aurora McCaffrey, who not only agreed to host the independent project but also helped the artist successfully apply for a community grant from the New York State Council on the Arts. Those funds were supplemented by private donations, plus an estimated 1,500 hours’ worth of work contributed by several of Renate’s artist friends.

The wood rowboats found on the region’s lakes informed the work’s plank-on-frame construction, which is built from locally sourced Adirondack white cedar. Thin strips of the same timber were stack-laminated to make handrails for a pair of curving staircases cut deep into either half of the sphere, which is finished in celestial-blue casein paint. Visitors climb the steps in unison to meet at the top of the piece. “They’re encompassed by the walls, slowly disappearing within the sculpture on the sixth or seventh step,” Renate explains. And when they reach the summit, Hurricane Mountain, the closest peak, appears on the horizon.

This Installation by Studiopepe Cofounders References Ancient Civilizations

Arianna Lelli Mami and Chiara Di Pinto, cofounders of Studiopepe, may be young and Italian, yet the stunning sculptural products emanating from their Milan studio have a classical quality suggesting both ancient civilizations and the venerated works of such 20th-century maestri as Constantin Brâncuşi, Isamu Noguchi, and Le Corbusier. All stem from the duo’s ongoing research in anthropology. For Milan Design Week, they collaborated with Galerie Philia to present “Temenos,” a 2,400-square-foot installation named after the word for sanctuary in ancient Greek held in the vacant 1950’s Necchi factory, in the Baranzate district 20 minutes from Milan’s center. Its handmade pieces, named for the nine archetypes of Egyptian cosmogony—like Temu and Isi—include vases, a console, mirror, lamp, and thronelike chairs with backrests of charred wood. studiopepe.info

Striking Furnishings and Installations on Display During Milan Design Week

These talented pairs debuted bold patterns and hues during Milan Design Week.

Front Design

Sofia Lagerkvist and Anna Lindgren’s Serpentine chandeliers for Moooi.

Incorporating a Parametric Installation, SKD Creates a Versatile Office for Soch Group in Mumbai

When Saniya Kantawala was only 22 years old, she established the interior design firm Saniya Kantawala Design (SKD), in 2014. Over the past eight years, SKD has since completed nearly 70 projects, including restaurants, residences, and offices. In every project, Kantawala has aimed to incorporate art inspired by India’s cultural heritage while creating spaces that enhance well-being. 

An office in Mumbai for Soch Group, an enterprise that supports Indian start-ups, integrates artwork, colorful furnishings, and plentiful greenery. The brief called for dividing and defining open work areas, as well as creating zones within the director’s area. Additionally, Soch Group’s leadership asked for shades of blues and shades of wine. Beyond that, SKD was given free rein. “The client offered us a blank canvas to create and innovate,” Kantawala explains. “And the Soch office is a warm and comfortable office space for a young, millennial workforce.” Bean bags are incorporated along the office periphery, furniture is upholstered in bright geometrics, and spatial elements emphasize the building’s natural light.

The thoughtfully executed elements add up to an elegant and versatile space. But the project had a tight budget and even tighter timeframe—less than two months, start to finish. The biggest challenge was executing a custom parametric installation that coasts and bends through the open work areas, main reception, and meeting pods. Assembled on site and requiring multiple iterations, the installation adds texture and definition to the 3,300-square-foot space. 

RIOS Brings Superbloom to Milan Design Week

The whirlwind that is Salone del Mobile brought a newcomer to the scene in the guise of a multi-sensory presentation. RIOS, the Los Angeles-based studio staked its claim at the international celebration of design and creativity with Superbloom, an interpretation of California’s rare springtime phenomenon of wildflowers awash in the desert. Conceptually, the conceit was the very antithesis of its setting—super-industrial and often chilly gray Milan. The big idea was to bring a jolt of SoCal sunshine, nature, and frankly joy to the capital of Lombardy. 

That’s part of the why. Underlying the high-impact visuals, though, was RIOS’s primary reason for participating. “We wanted to introduce ourselves to the European market as a multi-disciplinary firm through the vehicle of a fabulous installation, especially since this was the first Salone in a couple of years.” Sebastian Salvadó, creative director and principal introduces the project as spokesman for the team also including CarloMaria Ciampoli and Simone Lapenta. Teamwork, in fact, was the name of the game. RIOS held a firm-wide competition with its internal jury selecting two proposals to be consolidated as the final project. 

The immersive experience that is Superbloom unfolds through a series of three connected spaces—a foyer, courtyard, and exhibition room—within a private building housing the Simposio Design showroom in the Porta Romana zone of Milan, not far from Fondazione Prada. According to Salvadó, incidentally visiting Milan for the first time, it’s a typical 19th-century building with an arched opening streetside transitioning to the courtyard and exhibition area beyond, all totaling 3,750 square feet. 

Named the Rain, Sprout, and Bloom rooms, the spaces sequence the course of the flowers’ growth through nature. The Rain Room, blue to indicate water, presents as an open-air passageway filled with laser-cut vinyl tubes containing beads that release a customized scent. “Salty and earthy,” says Saladó. In the distance, sunlight, as suggested by a painted yellow disk mounted on the courtyard’s 10-foot-high wall, beckons to indicate propagation or sprouting as results of the rain. Design-savvy visitors can appreciate the area seated on custom benches designed with Janus et Cie. Finally, comes the piece de resistance. Of course, it’s the Bloom Room where super-sized examples of colorful translucent plastic, fabricated in house as were all components, stand more than 6-feet tall and “are almost anthropomorphic in their intense feeling of a field of flowers.” Projected images, light play, and background music composed by RIOS designer Anthony Nitche heighten the quasi other-worldly experience. As for himself, Salvadó recounts super bloom viewings at the Anza Borrego desert. “As a kid I was always aware of my surroundings.” Chalk that up, perhaps, to his father, a scientist combining geophysics, astrophysics, biology, and mathematics disciplines “to see how the planet works.”

In nature, super blooms are ephemeral, lasting only a few weeks. Their design interpretation here is a bit less fleeting. Superbloom, on view during Milan Design Week, is being upcycled. Items from the exhibition will be donated to Ai Bi, Associazione Amici dei Bambini, a non-profit fighting childhood neglect in Italy and internationally while also supporting Ukrainian mothers and children in Italy. 

14 Young Designer Highlights from the SaloneSatellite in Milan

Without a platform to showcase their work and forced to learn remotely, young designers suffered during the global pandemic. At exhibition center Fiera Milano last week, SaloneSatellite, Salone del Mobile’s celebration of rising stars under 35 returned—to long awaited relief. With the theme Designing for our Future Selves and a focus on sustainability, the 23rd edition featured 600 participants. Once again, the SaloneSatellite Awards program singled out a talented few. 

From furniture that dignifies walking difficulties to attractive new use for old tires and a foam-free upholstered furnishing collection, here are 14 of our favorite finds.

1. RemX by Lani Adeoye

A physical difference shouldn’t mean a loss of dignity. So thought SaloneSatellite 2022 first prize winner Lani Adeoye. Her RemX walker is inspired by one employed by her tribe in Nigeria, the Adeoye people, and made of easily found local materials.

2. Lamp by Studio Gilles Werbrouck and Hugues Loinard Studio

Magnetic tape, crochet fabric, and plaster is behind the unique finish of Lamp, the second prize winner by Studio Gilles Werbrouck in collaboration with Hugues Loinard Studio featured in “Belgium is Design.”

The lamp’s imprecise production process—white plaster is poured on black magnetic tape crochet fabric and then welded—makes each piece unique.

3. Meenghe by Djurdja Garčević of Young Balkan Designers

Scooping up third prize is Djurdja Garčević, a participant in the group show “Young Balkan Designers,” with the furniture collection Meenghe made of recycled tire shavings. In addition to the stool shown here, flowerpots, garbage containers and more can be made with the shredded substance, which eliminates the consumption of a raw material.

4. Max +1,5 Celsius by Atelier Ferraro

Reclaimed kitchen cabinet doors are transformed into Max +1,5 Celsius, a sunny yellow lounge chair by Atelier Ferraro, which garnered a Special Mention. With the addition of locally sourced wood, Max +1,5 Celsius finds new life for discarded particle boards, and can also be configured as a children’s chair, coffee table, sofa, or chaise lounge.

5. Ease by Rasmus Palmgren

A second Special Mention went to a stackable chair made of beechwood native to Finland. Designed by Rasmus Palmgren, the Ease Chair has a thin sheet-like backrest supported by a hardy frame.

6. Chochin by Shinnosuke Harada

With flat-pack capability, the multi-function Chochin, part of the Morito collection by Shinnosuke Harada, serves as lamp, stool, and table.

7. Elements of Colour by Michelle Müller with Maestro Peter Kuchinke and Torsten Rötzsch

Exploration with metal oxides drew out the unique color fade in Elements of Colour, a collection of gradient glassware by Michelle Müller with glassmakers Maestro Peter Kuchinke and Torsten Rötzsch.

8. Infinity by Felicia Arvid

What if you could eliminate the foam in upholstered furniture? Analyzing how fabric folds, Felicia Arvid conceived the Infinity furniture collection, composed of a bench, chair, lounge chair, pouf, and room divider. The collection is constructed from just two materials—fabric and steel.

9. Elements of Light by AATISMO

Glowing like moonlight in a pool, the Water lamp, part of the Elements of Light series by AATISMO, is made of recycled glass.

10. Disversa by Maria Chiara Sgarbi, Noemi Mateus, and Julia Drost

The transformable Disversa by Maria Chiara Sgarbi, Noemi Mateus, and Julia Drost, featured in the exhibition “Stuck: Smash Social Ceilings,” converts into a conference area with table and two benches serving four people. Wheels add to its flexibility.

11. Biocarpet by Arpad Pulai of Young Balkan Designers

A nod to biomimicry, Biocarpet, a nubby floor covering featured in “Young Balkan Designers,” reveals designer Arpad Pulai’s experimentation with non-woven structural surfaces.

12. Waiting by Amorce Studio

The metal and glass modular Waiting shelf by Amorces Studio reminds us of the colorful scribbles of childhood.

13. Corpus by Adriana Schmitt

Corpus, a wood and tubular steel chair by Adriana Schmitt, is too big, too wide and too high, or so says the designer. A statement against what is considered ‘average,’ the chair is dedicated to the unique features of a women’s body—and not that of an average man.

14. Landscape by Margaux de Penfentenyo

Margaux de Penfentenyo hand-painted Douglas fir to create the Landscape Lamp, a tribute to the many layers and hues of the geological strata of the earth.