Mats Horbach (°1988) originally went to the Technology University of Eindhoven to study industrial design, but soon realised that the creative element was missing. And so a year later he successfully applied to join the Design Academy in the same city. He was able to release his sense of creativity and grew to become a designer with a strong poetic feel. Now that objects are reduced to a minimum, and their technology takes away their visual appeal, Horbach feels that they lose their essence, their soul. We no longer understand the function of objects and we think that’s normal, all of which causes us to lose our appreciation of their beauty. In a series of intimate objects, Horbach makes these magical principles visible so that our perception becomes multi-layered again and the world more beautiful; for example, by showing the waves used by a radio or a Wi-Fi network. Just like with his final university project, within Toegepast a triptych of graphic works is combined with short stories and the objects themselves. Together they form an ode to nothing. Oorspronkelijk trok Mats Horbach (°1988) naar de Technische Universiteit van Eindhoven om er industrieel design te studeren, maar hij voelde al snel dat hij het creatieve aspect miste. En dus legde hij een jaar later met succes de toelatingsproef voor de Design Academy in diezelfde stad af. Hij kon er zijn creativiteit de vrije loop laten, en groeide uit tot een designer met bijzonder poëtisch werk.Want aangezien objecten nu tot een minimum herleid worden, en hun techniek aan het oog onttrokken wordt, verliezen ze volgens Horbach hun essentie, hun ziel. We begrijpen de werking van de objecten niet meer of vinden het gewoon normaal, en verliezen daardoor onze aandacht voor hun schoonheid. In een reeks intieme objecten maakt Horbach die magische principes opnieuw zichtbaar. Zodat onze perceptie terug meerlagig wordt, en de wereld mooier. Zo laat hij bijvoorbeeld de golven zien waardoor een radio of een Wi-Fi netwerk functioneert. Net als bij zijn afstudeerproject brengt hij binnen Toegepast een drieluik dat grafisch werk combineert met kortverhalen en de objecten zelf. Samen vormen ze zijn ode aan het niets
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Atelier ready for filming
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Update Tikvoet
Today I had the first update of Tikvoet. He had his first experiments for my machine. Although it proved to be more difficult as he thought the first results are promising. I could hear a really nice white noise from the ear plug. However the signal was not strong enough to power a speaker. First things to do to improve the strength of the signal is to increase the diameter of the coil and to increase the length of the antenna. Also he will be experimenting with different condensators.
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Machine Design Model
This is the cardboard form prototype of the Machine. The signal comes in the left back corner by the antenna. Then it moves to the right front corner to the speaker and the ground wire. The base will be wood with platforms for every element as can be seen on the model. Also the path of the wires is in the wood with a messing nail in every corner to guide the wire. The base hereby sets the direction of the movement in the object and sets for each element its position. I designed it like so because the object now tells you more about its techniques and actions.
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Tikvoet
After having tried to build a crystal radio by myself and failing every time I went looking for help. Luck can be found in funny places. Just below my apartment there is this Atelier called Tikvoet. Here Niels van den Berg builds and rebuilds old radios and amplifiers. After a nice meeting with him he is willing to help me with my project for which I cannot thank him enough.
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First Machine tests
The start of the first Nothing Machine trial.
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Book tests
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First Book tests
To support the nothing machines I am working on a book to explain this abstract topic. It will be a graphic book with abstract visualizations. The idea is that I press the background of the visuals in black ink. Hereby the visuals (foreground) is made by adding nothing. So also the book is made by nothing.
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The Nothing Machines
Inspired on the Foxhole Radio (check this out http://mancave.conrad.nl/radio-van-wc-rol-punaises-paperclips-en-koperdraad/) I am working on machines that catch the nothing and turn it into something. These machines run on completely nothing. It has no batteries or no connection with any electricity net what so ever. It catches signals from the air and with these signals it also gets the electricity which it uses to transfer the signals into sound. That will be the first machine I will make. Than I will experiment on whether these machines can also create light out of nothing or even movement. These machines show us the beauty of all this nothing around us and in an almost magical way it shows us their potential.
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Het niets
Vroeger was ik er bang voor. Met een klein groen lampje die mijn moeder zo de stopcontact in kon steken werd mij ‘s nachts de donkerte bespaard. De deur bleef op een kier staan en het licht op de gang bleef aan. Ik ben nog bang in het donker maar dat is niet de schuld van het niets. Nee het niets is als de tandarts, het ziet er eng uit maar ze hebben het beste met ons voor. Vormloos, gewichtloos en geruisloos stelt het me gerust. Het laat me weten dat ze er over 10 minuten is en of er nog wc-papier is. “Ja dat had ik al gehaald, net als ontbijt voor morgenochtend.” Ze blijft slapen en dat weten we nu allebei.
Maar dat is nog niet alles, het niets is meer. Terwijl ik de groente snij kijk ik zonder mezelf te snijden op mijn laptopje hoe het gerecht ook al weer heet wat ik voor haar sta te maken. De nieuwslezer wenst me een fijne avond toe vanaf de tv. Ik groet hem terug onderweg naar de deur. Op het moment dat ik de deurklink vastpak starten ze ons nummertje in op de radio. Nou zeg ik wel bij elk nummer wat gedraaid wordt dat het de onze is maar toch. Niets, bedankt voor je timing.
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Nothing is the essence of things
This is nothing
and they are with many
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Making something out of nothing
When we turn on the tv images pop up on the screen in an instant. Imagine this would happen a few hundred years ago. How would people react? How would they react when music and voice come out of a radio and pictures are printed in less than 10 seconds by a printer? We are used to this so it is normal. But something special doesn’t become ordinary only due to time. These machines make out of nothing an image or a sound. The tv picks up signals from the air and transforms this into images. I don’t know about you, but when I think about it I can’t help to be amazed.
printer
projector
radio
television
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Inspiration
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Film projector
I made this for a small project a few years ago (http://www.ateliermats.nl/filmprojector.html). I made it in two weeks and always thought that with some more time and energy it could be an interesting project. Four years later Toegepast 18 came on my path and I took this chance to work again on this project. The essence of things. First thing to think about is what the essence is of this project.
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The essence of things
project description Mats Horbach
Ever since man discovered his thumb and walked on two legs we are working hard to understand the world around us. We discover new lands, do new inventions and keep on learning. But while we are researching the smallest particle on earth in CERN, we understand less and less how everyday objects around us work. We put a lot of effort in disguising the mechanics of our products. Everything moving we make static. When an airplane flies over, do you see it fly? When a train passes, do you see it move? Do you know how your phone works? a refrigerator, television or radio?
In this project I’m working on the essence of things. I want to show the beauty of this essence in a series of objects. Because it was this essence which fascinated and inspired us in the first place. This lost beauty and magic needs its rightful place in our environment so we can better understand and value it.
toegepast18 