November 21, 2022

KINETIC ART THAT MOVES YOU: M.A.D Gallery has all the right moves at Dubai Design Week

by AHMED SEDDIQI & SONS

Dubai’s leading design-led event is back! The annual event, unfurling for the eight time this November 9-12, brings together a curated selection of the city’s most creative design talent alongside artists and designers from around the world.

This year at Dubai Design District, MB&F M.A.D Gallery presents a dynamic collection of Mechanical Art Devices from around the world that unite the complexity of mechanical watchmaking with the world of art and design.

“The pieces showcased at Dubai Design Week are three-dimensional works of kinetic art whose complexity mirrors that of mechanical horology,” says MB&F M.A.D Gallery founder, Maximilian Busser. “Their creators share the passion of MB&F for creating mechanical art, expressing their craft through the creation of exceptional and thought-provoking pieces of art united by a common theme – they all move.”

The MB&F M.A.D Gallery at Dubai Design Week features more than 30 individual pieces available to be admired during the week – you can also see a wider selection of mechanical art at MB&F M.A.D Gallery which is located in The Dubai Mall.

JUMEIRAH TIDE BY BREAKFAST NYC

A canvas comprised of sequin-like discs animates in a series of movements that changes according to the real-time ebb and flow of the tide. Powered by computer-aided technology, the piece commissioned exclusively for the MB&F M.A.D Gallery Dubai by Brooklyn-based studio Breakfast reimagines how the sea is depicted in the world of art. The noise of the moving discs further evokes the sounds of the waves – a visual and aural interpretation of the ocean, ready to take centre-stage on your wall.
breakfastny.com/works/tides

WALL STRINGRAY BY APICAL REFORM X M.A.D. GALLERY

The Stingray is an abstract, kinetic sculpture that pays rich tribute to the majesty of this aquatic creature. Through a series of mesmerisic mechanical movements, the beauty of each gesture and movement of the stingray is evoked in slow, hypnotic motion. The creation of Apical Reform, a collaborative studio established in 2011 by Amrish Patel and Darshan Soni, Stingray is part of a vanguard of emerging Indian designers at the intersection of art and innovation, combining design with technology and manufacture. The Wall Stingray is the latest limited-edition piece to be added to the collection.

madgallery.net/dubai/en/creators/apical-reform-for-mbandf

VESTABOARD

Redolent of old-fashioned train station signs, the Vestaboard display can be programmed from your smartphone to display anything from an inspiring quote or message, to a menu, colours or even a ‘to do’ list. The split-flap smart messaging display uses 132 bits, each has 64 matte-printed characters including the alphabet, numbers, punctuation and colors. Vestaboard makes a whirring sound when your smart device changes the display.
shop.madgallery.ch/products/vestaboard

A+million+Times+120,+2016_Corian_212x121cm_Ed.82_1

A MILLION TIMES 120 BY HUMANS SINCE 1982

An ongoing project that presents clocks as art objects, this piece displays multiple analogue clocks choreographed in an abstract, dance-like movement. Exploring the idea of the passing of time, A Million Times 120 is made with a stone-like surface material by Humans Since 1982; a Stockholm-based interdisciplinary studio. The studio’s signature includes reinterpreting everyday objects such as clocks, smartphones and even surveillance equipment in meticulous, creative ways that explore the dynamic of technology and human emotions; the element of mechanical movement in their pieces makes them right at home amongst M.A.D Gallery’s mechanical creations.

humanssince1982.com/studio

COSMOPLOM BY PARKER HEYL AND MAC VAN DAM

Is it a little windmill? A flower? A tiny wind farm? Cosmoplom is a playful, whimsical sculpture by artists Parker Heyl and Mac van Dam, an intersection between the mechanical and the artistic. The kinetic artist questions the supremacy of digital technologies in contemporary culture, turning instead to analog aesthetics and focusing on the complex movement of physical objects.

; parkerheyl.com

BALTHAZAR BY MB&F X L’EPÉE

A table clock with serious attitude, Balthazar evokes a sense of playful nostalgia, but this formidably sophisticated table clock is not to be toyed with. Comprised of 618 impeccably finished, micro-engineered components, the 40cm-tall creation by MB&F and L’Epée features two sides to his character – light and dark. On the light side, the clockwork, boasting a 35-day power reserve, shows off ‘slow’ jumping hours and trailing minutes via two discs on the chest, with the power reserve indicator displayed on the belly. Two red ‘eyes’ are actually 20-second retrograde displays. The robot rotates a full 180° around the hips, revealing a different, darker aspect: a cold skull with menacing teethc and deep-set ruby eyes. On this side is a moon phase accurate for 122 years. Along with displaying the time, Balthazar’s arms articulate at the shoulders and elbows, while his hands can clasp and hold objects.

The collaboration between MB&F and the award-winning Swiss Manufacure founded in 1839 and known for its highly sophisticated table clocks showcases exceptional technical prowess and design.

shop.madgallery.ch/products/balthazar

TIME FAST II L’EPÉE (GPHG 2022 Nominee)

The 1960s were a golden age for sports car performance and sleek sensual design. Sports car racing features cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels, and they usually run over relatively large distances so there is an emphasis on reliability and efficiency.
In celebration of this golden era of racing, L’Epée 1839 introduces Time Fast II, a V8 racing thoroughbred clock faithfully replicating much of the technology and design that made racing sports cars of the 1960s so appealing.
lepee1839.ch/collection/time-fast-ii