dark matter

wyssem & cécile nochi

dark matter

version 1: biodegradable 100% cashmere body bag.

a blanket with rotation curve of a typical spiral galaxy graphic sewn.

version 2: reusable acrylic body bag with rotation curve

of a typical spiral galaxy graphic vinyl adhesive.

version 1: 100% cashmere

version 2: acrylic

211cmx112cm

rotation curve of a typical spiral galaxy: predicted (A) and observed (B)

dark matter can explain the velocity curve having a 'flat' appearance

out to a large radius. (Vera Rubin)

[dark matter cannot be seen by astronomers with telescopes.

it doesn't emit or reflect enough light to detect, so it's not bright, like a star.

atoms, molecules and subatomic particles are dark matter.

you and I are dark matter. everything on earth is dark matter.

planets, brown dwarf stars and black holes are dark matter.

basically, dark matter cannot be seen - scientists can only estimate where it is

based on gravitational effects on what they can see. (Craig Freudenrich, Ph.D.)]

Pandora’s box

carpet, a 6 sided folding open cardboard box form.

in Greek mythology, ''Pandora's box'' is the large jar carried by Pandora that contained

all the evils of mankind—greed, vanity, slander, lying, envy, pining—and hope.

[Pandora was the first woman on earth. Zeus ordered Hephaestus, the god of

craftsmanship, to create her and he did, using water and earth. the gods endowed

her with many talents; Aphrodite gave her beauty, Apollo music, Hermes persuasion,

and so forth. hence her name: Pandora, "all-gifted".

when Prometheus stole fire from heaven, Zeus took vengeance by presenting

Pandora to Epimetheus, Prometheus' brother. with her, Pandora had a jar which

she was not to open under any circumstance. impelled by her natural curiosity,

Pandora opened the jar, and all evil contained escaped and spread over the earth.

she hastened to close the lid, but the whole contents of the jar had escaped,

except for one thing which lay at the bottom, and that was Hope. (Micha F. Lindemans)]

100% New Zealand wool

(61cmx61cm)x255cmx209cm

shadow molds

a coat hanger in pine. the coat support rod shadow is engraved in the wood base.

the shadow remains present even when overcast. available in 4 and 6 hanger units.

pine wood - natural or black

65cmx14cmx3cmx10 cm

95cmx14cmx3cmx10 cm

wormhole II

table, void serves as fruit bowl.

space travel model: linear travel from point a (here-earth) to point b (there-galaxy)

or short cut through the wormhole a-b.

…“a wormhole in our space-time universe might connect us to places that are many

light-years away. it's a shortcut that allows you to beat a light ray taking the long route

---a straight line. "relativity says that nothing can pass you going faster than the speed

of light," as Geoffrey A. Landis, a physicist at the Ohio Aerospace Institute of the NASA

Lewis Research Center in Cleveland points out. "but it doesn't say you can't get from

here to there faster than light could." since you don't pass anything on your way

through the wormhole, there is no violation of relativity. wormholes arc loophole“…

in plywood, mdf and resin cast hole, painted black. wormhole is available

in a full transparent resin cast version, or made of DuPont™ Corian® on order.

37cmx130cmx40cm

mother feather - pillowscape

1-24 pillow cases in a patchwork of black textile, with standard size feather pillows

fasten with snaps to reconfigure a matress form or “metrass” - arabic for blockade -

useful after years of marriage - found in abundant form and variation on beirut streets.

fabric, snaps

single: 50cmx80cm

batch: 300cmx240cm

mobile airport II (whisky bar - transformer)

folding table.

recycle a household iron board into a table with airport graphic,

hang flat as wall art, or deploy low – to high to mix music/liquor.

recycled object, aluminum, reflective adhesive.

240cmx50cmx20cm-100cm

luffa_kaf*

table lamp.

*arabic for glove.

25cmx25cmx35cm

luffa_nabat*

table lamp.

*arabic for vegetal.

20cmx20cmx50cm

luffa_wej*

table lamp with luffa shade in steel, paint.

*arabic for face.

50cmx50cmx50cm

luffa_tichkil I*

table lamp.

*arabic for variation. this item is part of a variation on one theme

-one of eight different pieces. tichkil I inspired the whole collection,

its form directly borrows from the luffas hanging in plastic bags,

as found in the market, or “souk”.

20cmx20cmx60cm

luffa_hajar*

table lamp.

*singular arabic for rock.

S 25cmx25cmx25cm

M 35cmx35cmx30cm

L 45cmx45cmx35cm

luffa_6hjar*

hanging lamp.

*plural arabic for rocks.

gum box

homage to César.

folding table.

recycle scrap metal from advert printing film plate. the box form is compressed

for an uneven light table surface – when folded the table is wall hung art.

recycled aluminium plates

112cmx151cmx70cm

mobile airport I (whisky bar - conveyor)

table with conveyor belt with airport graphic. can be raised to become a bar.

mobile airport I, and II fill urgent need for instant escape routes when under siege

following the Israeli air raid, in Beirut's suburbs July 12 2006, or when “heavily armed

Hezbollah fighters seized control of much of western Beirut…major roads were blocked

with burned tires and truck loads of sand, including the one linking Beirut and its airport.”

May 7 2008. (New York Times)

steel, motor, rubber belt, reflective adhesive

360cmx92xcm72-110cm

hexagon_x

the extension of the lines of hexagon form a pyramid. sitting on “hexagon_x”

the head and breathing person’s nose are within an invisible pyramid’s energy field.

steel covered with black imitation leather

80cmx80x75cm

luggage X

5 suitcase set to lounge on at home or in long airport waits.

4 size luggage set – change couch configuration according to luggage number

imitation leather, satin, nickel, kapok.

46cmx58cmx19cm

48cmx64cmx20cm

56cmx72cmx21cm

58cmx76cmx22cm

arabic term “hakiba” means luggage or portfolio.

suitcases packed ready to getaway in case something happens …

a reminder to a recurrence in Lebanese life, as more and more people, tired

by daily assault leave the country to find peace and secure livelihoods.

the work luggage X, tease slow forming Lebanese unity government long

disputes over portfolios in a glamorous approach.

luggage X couchscape 06

luggage X couchscape 09

luggage X couchscape 12

luggage X couchscape 3

luggage X couchscape 5

luggage X_I

luggage X_II

luggage X_III

luggage X_IV

luggage X_V

5 luggage types, 4 sizes with chain bracelet and necklace

le mystère d’Isidore Ducasse

couch wapped in army blanket and rope.

the original object is a b/w photograph by Man Ray - 1920.

Vera and Arturo Schwarz Collection, Milan.

[the title of this work, which can be translated as ‘the enigma of Isidore Ducasse’,

refers to a nineteenth-century author better known by his pseudonym, the Comte de

Lautréamont. the work was inspired by Ducasse’s famous phrase ‘beautiful as the

chance meeting, on a dissecting table, of a sewing machine and an umbrella’.

the Surrealists saw this simile, describing the surprising conjunction of disparate

elements, as a model for surrealist images in art and poetry. Man Ray used a real

sewing machine as the wrapped object. the original example, now lost, was exhibited

in the 1936 surrealist exhibition of objects.]

pine wood, dunlop rubber, imitation leather, velvet, army blanket, rope

214cmx152cmx102cm

homage to Michael Thonet - nº 14 bent wood chair 1859.

chair in rattan. 7 curved palm stems interlace to give it form.

assembled with a handful of screws.

natural rattan or black stain

dimensions: 44cmx82cmx55cm

w4 chair in pine, or walnut, a rectilinear version of r6 curve-linear chair.

w4 lines weave together into shape, one line is added for w5 for an arm rest.

pine wood or walnut

(2cmx3cm) 80cmx52cmx42cm

canvas

expanding work table and chair in pine.

a support for canvas painting frames that can be

fixed to the table/chair or removed to hang on a wall.

pine wood, 100% linen canvas

table: 100cmx72cmx124cm-244cm

chair: 40cmx72cmx48cm

copy/paste - Arne Jacobsen fakes

Arne Jacobsen 8 original chair back designs - variation on the “ant” chair of 1951 -

are vinyl cut in black or white and ‘paste’ on the ‘copy’ chair back.

recycled object, bent plywood, steel, vinyl

51cmx86cmx42cm

building remains - wired

is title to two works; building remains (chandelier) and wired (2 chairs)

in memory of Israeli bombardment of Beirut 2006, Gaza 2008…

‘building remains’: a steel and concrete building column is crushed into chandelier

form, hang with 13 bulbs connected with (extension) cord – to…

‘wired': two steel metal frame chairs with cord and (- +) plugs.

recycled object, concrete remains attached to steel rods, copper wire in black sleeve

– 3M connector - socket and 13x40w light bulbs

building remains: 80cmx220cm

wired: 80cmx61cmx71cm

c/w

chairs (pair).

w drew the narrow bottom wide back, c drew the wide bottom narrow back.

table rase - centre culturel francais design competition award.

steel and wicker

68cmx38cmx88cm

circus hors-d’oeuvres

plate set on a metal disk and stem.

use on river bed, sand beach, grass, plant pot.

the plate magnetic base adhere to the steel disk welded to a stem.

plate can easily be removed from the ‘stick’ to refresh with your favorite ‘hors-d’oeuvres’.

earthware, steel, magnet

22cmx80-100cm

foldaway

table and trestle cut in one plank of marine plywood.

hung on the wall foldaway is a conscious piece of functional art.

marine plywood

122cmx244cmx2cm

x>y

x is greater than y.

shelving unit - flat pack - composed of 6 cut pieces assembled with 16 screws.

the unit can be accessed from all sides, pile into different form/number

as low or high partition wall. individual unit can be used as a bed side shelf or table.

plywood

57cmx57cmx38cmx20cmx1.2cm

wall-pack

desk or bar store away.

marine plywood or mdf

80cmx40cmx80cm

LX3

LX3 chair is one same shape (boomerang) spin into back, seat and legs;

cut from one marine plywood sheet, and assembled with (no glue) bolt and screw.

20-2cm marine plywood slices

40cmx62cmx76cm

light FX

homage to Dan Flavin.

3 fluorescent lights attach with velcro on marine plywood in small and large size panels.

add color gels to change light effect.

S 61cmx120cmx2cm

L 120cmx120cmx2cm

x-ray (head)

light box in acrylic with x-ray film

14cmx25cmx31cm

wyssem nochi

holds an MA from the Architectural Association in London and a BA from the New School of

Social Research - Parsons School of Design in New York. he has taught architecture and

design at the American University of Beirut and the Lebanese American University. he has

produced works in architecture and urban design and has developed numerous products in

limited batch editions and on-offs. he has earned a number of awards, has shown works in

Lebanon and abroad. he recently founded ON/OFF a design stage in downtown Beirut.

cécile nochi

studied at l’Ecole des Beaux-Arts and l’Ecole Superieure d’Art moderne de Paris. she has

developed products for MEKER industries, and earned the “Table Rase” Centre Culturel

Français prize for her chairs “c/w” and the “Achkal Alwan” Ministère de la Culture prize for

her “Homage a Saint-Exupery”.

ON/OFF S.A.R.L.

88, Rue du Parlement.

1 Arab Bank Bldg.

Beirut Central District.

2011 1703. Lebanon

tel: + 961 1 966179

fax: + 961 1 966 681

website:

www.on-off.com.lb

wyssem and cécile nochi

pobox 11-4137 Riad el Solh

1107 2160 Beirut. Lebanon

tel: + 961 3 204202

email:

wn02@wyssemnochi.com

skype: wyssemnochi

website:

http://www.wyssemnochi.com