Light according to acclaimed artist James Turrell is a powerful substance which we all have a primal connection to. For Rotterdam-based designer Sabine Marcelis it is also a materia prima whose properties she poetically manipulates through the inventive use of neon lamps, reflective surfaces and coloured translucencies. Effortlessly moving between product design, installation and art, Marcelis’ work, whether it is being commissioned by commercial clients or created for art galleries, is underpinned by a minimalist sensibility established by such artists such as Dan Flavin and Robert Irwin. At the same time, fueled by a curious mind, her work is empowered by a daring sense of experimentation based on cutting-edge technologies and innovative manufacturing processes. Inspired by nature’s magical colour palette during sunrise, the Dawn Lights series explores the relationship between light and colour by casting neon tubes into seductively hued resin forms. Similar in construction, the Voie Lights trace the path of light by having the neon tubes emerge from the resin casts, while the layered and polychromatic glass objects in the Seeing Glass series are the product of Marcelis’ ongoing study into optical effects created with glass, conducted in collaboration with Brit van Nerven.

根据著名艺术家詹姆斯·特雷尔(JamesTurrell)的说法，光是一种强大的物质，我们都有着原始的联系。对鹿特丹的设计师萨宾·马塞利斯来说，这也是一种质料，她通过独创地使用霓虹灯、反光表面和彩色半透明物来实现她的特性。马塞利斯的作品在产品设计、安装和艺术之间毫不费力地移动，无论是由商业客户委托，还是为艺术画廊创作，都是由丹·弗莱文(Dan Flavin)和罗伯特·欧文(Robert Irwin)等艺术家确立的极简主义情感支撑。同时，在好奇心的推动下，她的工作被一种基于尖端技术和创新制造工艺的大胆的实验意识所赋予。灵感来自大自然的神奇色彩调色板在日出，黎明灯系列探索光和颜色之间的关系，通过将霓虹灯管铸造成诱人的色彩树脂形式。在结构上类似，VIE灯通过树脂铸型中的霓虹灯管来追踪光的路径，而在可视玻璃系列中的分层和多色玻璃物体是Marcelis正在与Brit van Nerven合作对玻璃产生的光学效果进行研究的产物。

Sabine Marcelis, Dawn Lights, 2015. Photo © Lee Wei Swee.

萨宾·马塞利斯，“黎明之灯”，2015年。照片：李伟。

Sabine Marcelis, Candy Cubes, 2014. Photo by Jeroen Verrecht.

Sabine Marcelis，“糖果立方体”，2014年。图片来源于Jeroen Verrecht。

Sabine Marcelis, Dawn Lights, 2015. Photo © Lee Wei Swee.

萨宾·马塞利斯，“黎明之灯”，2015年。照片：李伟。

Marcelis’ commercial work ranges from creating candy-coloured cubed displays for fashion houses such as Céline and Isabel Marant, to designing interiors for the OMA/AMO-designed Paris flagship store of jewelry house Repossi, and transforming the main entrance of Berlin’s KaDeWe department store into a golden archway. More recently, she has designed an iridescent, totem-like installation for the launch of A. Lange - Söhne’s DATOGRAPH UP/DOWN “Lumen” chronograph. Organized by Openhouse, the event, which our own Costas Voyatzis had the pleasure of attending, took place in October of 2018 at Solo Office—an experimental ring-shaped house by Belgian practice OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen, located in the pine-covered hills of Matarraña, Spain. Installed in the centre of the house’s circular patio, Marcelis’ gleaming sculpture effectively became a sun dial, humanity’s earliest method for telling the time, evocatively complemented by a figurative bezel formed by the encircling building. Yatzer recently caught up with Marcelis for a chat about her bourgeoning practice, her fascination with light, and her recent projects. (Answers have been condensed and edited for clarity.)

马塞利斯的商业作品包括为塞林(Céline)和伊莎贝尔·马兰特(Isabel Marant)等时装公司制作糖果色立方体显示屏，为OMA/AMO设计的巴黎珠宝首饰旗舰店Retrui设计内饰，以及将柏林Kadewe百货公司的大门改造成金色拱廊。最近，她设计了一个像图腾一样的发光装置，用于发射a.lange。

Solo Sundial, 2018, installation by Sabine Marcelis for luxury watch label A. Lange - Söhne at SOLO OFFICE by Office GDVS in Spain. Photo © Mari Luz Vidal.

2018年单飞日盘，由Sabine Marcelis为豪华手表标签A.Lange安装

Solo Sundial, 2018, installation by Sabine Marcelis for luxury watch label A. Lange - Söhne at SOLO OFFICE by Office GDVS in Spain. Photo © Mari Luz Vidal.

2018年单飞日盘，由Sabine Marcelis为豪华手表标签A.Lange安装

Solo Sundial, 2018, installation by Sabine Marcelis for luxury watch label A. Lange - Söhne at SOLO OFFICE by Office GDVS in Spain. Photo © Mari Luz Vidal.

2018年单飞日盘，由Sabine Marcelis为豪华手表标签A.Lange安装

Solo Sundial, 2018, installation by Sabine Marcelis for luxury watch label A. Lange - Söhne at SOLO OFFICE by Office GDVS in Spain. Photo © Mari Luz Vidal.

2018年单飞日盘，由Sabine Marcelis为豪华手表标签A.Lange安装

Solo Sundial, 2018, installation by Sabine Marcelis for luxury watch label A. Lange - Söhne at SOLO OFFICE by Office GDVS in Spain. Photo © Mari Luz Vidal.

2018年单飞日盘，由Sabine Marcelis为豪华手表标签A.Lange安装

What inspired you to become a designer? Was is something you always wanted or did you evolve into it? I wasn’t one of those people that knew from an early age that I wanted to be a designer. I’m very black and white in my ways and when something grabs my interest I’m all in. I only started studying design when I was 21 after taking a long break after high school to travel. From the start, I realised I absolutely loved designing, but from a different angle than what we were taught at school. I’m a total nerd and very curious about production techniques and materiality, still working very closely with factories as I did when I was studying. I have to be super enthusiastic about something to be able to do good work so I only work on projects that fascinate me from the very beginning. I have been lucky in that in the last few years there has been more interest in my work and I have had the chance to work alongside great architects and fashion designers whilst also being completely freely to work on projects presented in museums and galleries. I love the fact that I can jump between these different scales and situations and that I’m not boxed into one category as a designer.

什么让你成为设计师？是你一直想要的东西，还是你进化成了它？我不是那些早就知道我想成为设计师的人之一。我很黑又白，当什么东西抓住我的兴趣时，我都在里面。我只有21岁的时候才开始学习设计，高中毕业后我才21岁。从一开始，我意识到我绝对喜欢设计，但不同于我们在学校所教授的角度。我是个书呆子，对生产技术和重要性很好奇，我在学习时仍与工厂密切合作。我必须对一些能做得很好的事情感到非常热情，所以我只在从一开始就能让我着迷的项目上工作。我幸运的是，在过去的几年里，我的工作更有兴趣，我有机会与伟大的建筑师和时尚设计师并肩工作，同时也能完全自由地工作在博物馆和美术馆展出的项目上。我喜欢这样一个事实，即我可以在这些不同的比例和情况之间跳跃，并且我不被打包成一个类别作为设计器。

Solo Sundial, 2018, installation by Sabine Marcelis for luxury watch label A. Lange - Söhne at SOLO OFFICE by Office GDVS in Spain. Photo © Mari Luz Vidal.

2018年单飞日盘，由Sabine Marcelis为豪华手表标签A.Lange安装

Solo Sundial, 2018, installation by Sabine Marcelis for luxury watch label A. Lange - Söhne at SOLO OFFICE by Office GDVS in Spain. Photo © Mari Luz Vidal.

2018年单飞日盘，由Sabine Marcelis为豪华手表标签A.Lange安装

Solo Sundial, 2018, installation by Sabine Marcelis for luxury watch label A. Lange - Söhne at SOLO OFFICE by Office GDVS in Spain. Photo © Mari Luz Vidal.

2018年单飞日盘，由Sabine Marcelis为豪华手表标签A.Lange安装

Solo Sundial, 2018, installation by Sabine Marcelis for luxury watch label A. Lange - Söhne at SOLO OFFICE by Office GDVS in Spain. Photo © Mari Luz Vidal.

2018年单飞日盘，由Sabine Marcelis为豪华手表标签A.Lange安装

Your design language is centred on elemental geometric forms such as circles and cubes. How did this design language come about and what is its significance? I’m not a fan of decorative elements. For me, everything needs a purpose to be there. The shape of an object or installation allows for the effects or feeling that I’m after to be optimised. Normally this means paring it down to elemental geometry so as to not distract from the materiality or lighting effects. Simple shapes are calming to me and get down to the core. You recently designed an iridescent, totem-like installation for the launch of A. Lange - Söhne’s new chronograph. What role did Solo Office’s unique architecture play in your design and how did the chronograph’s technical characteristics inspire you? This was another example of a commercial project opening up opportunities. I had actually wanted to do a sundial for a very long time but had never got around to it. When Openhouse magazine invited me to think of an installation for the launch event of the chronograph, they had already picked the site. It was almost a no-brainer to create a huge watch. Using the circular shape of the house and the fact that the product was a watch that was ever changing with the time of the day. It just all came together.

您的设计语言集中在元素几何形式，如圆和立方体。这种设计语言是如何产生的，它的意义是什么？我不喜欢装饰元素。对我来说，一切都需要有目的。物体或装置的形状允许我所追求的效果或感觉得到优化。通常，这意味着将其分解成元素几何学，这样就不会分散对物质性或照明效果的注意力。简单的形状使我平静下来，并深入到核心。你最近为A.Lange的发射设计了一个像图腾一样的彩虹装置

Solo Sundial, 2018, installation by Sabine Marcelis for luxury watch label A. Lange - Söhne at SOLO OFFICE by Office GDVS in Spain. Photo © Mari Luz Vidal.

2018年单飞日盘，由Sabine Marcelis为豪华手表标签A.Lange安装

Solo Sundial, 2018, installation by Sabine Marcelis for luxury watch label A. Lange - Söhne at SOLO OFFICE by Office GDVS in Spain. Photo © Mari Luz Vidal.

2018年单飞日盘，由Sabine Marcelis为豪华手表标签A.Lange安装

Solo Sundial, 2018, installation by Sabine Marcelis for luxury watch label A. Lange - Söhne at SOLO OFFICE by Office GDVS in Spain. Photo © Mari Luz Vidal.

2018年单飞日盘，由Sabine Marcelis为豪华手表标签A.Lange安装

Solo Sundial, 2018, installation by Sabine Marcelis for luxury watch label A. Lange - Söhne at SOLO OFFICE by Office GDVS in Spain. Photo © Mari Luz Vidal.

2018年单飞日盘，由Sabine Marcelis为豪华手表标签A.Lange安装

Take us through your work process. Do you spend more time in the design, or in the manufacturing phase? Is experimentation an integral part of the process for every project? I’m not a sketcher. I get my ideas on the road, from living a life with my eyes wide open and absorbing everything I experience as a potential source of inspiration. I experiment a lot and spend a lot of time in factories. It’s only when I find something of interest that the design process begins to take shape. How different is it working on commercial than personal projects? Do aesthetics and functionality play the same role in both cases? I used to believe that when a designer or artist does a collaboration with a brand or something more commercial the outcome would always be a compromise. Or a watered down version of a pure idea. But I now believe that it can actually be more creative than a project done autonomously. I am very careful and picky with the commercial projects I do, making sure from day one that the client’s creative vision is flexible enough for me to be free to design. I do believe that when researching a brand’s story and history that opportunities and ideas present themselves which I would normally not have come across when doing a purely autonomous project. With FENDI, for example, the idea of working and designing with water presented itself when I realised that the brand had this strong reoccurring theme of water in their history.

带领我们完成你的工作流程。你是花更多的时间在设计上，还是在制造阶段？实验是每个项目过程中不可或缺的一部分吗？我不是素描师。我在路上得到了我的想法，因为我的生活睁大了眼睛，吸收了我所经历的每一件事情，作为一种潜在的灵感来源。我做了很多实验，花了很多时间在工厂里。只有当我发现一些令人感兴趣的东西时，设计过程才开始成形。它在商业项目上的工作与个人项目有什么不同？美学和功能性在这两种情况下都扮演着同样的角色吗？我曾经相信，当一个设计师或艺术家与一个品牌或其他更商业化的东西合作时，结果总是妥协的。或者一个被淡化的纯想法版本。但我现在相信它实际上比自主完成的项目更有创意。我非常小心和挑剔的商业项目，我所做的，确保从第一天，客户的创造性愿景是足够灵活的，我可以自由设计。我确实相信，当研究一个品牌的故事和历史时，机会和想法会出现，而当我做一个纯自主的项目时，我通常不会遇到这种情况。以芬迪为例，当我意识到这个品牌在他们的历史上有这样一个强烈的反复出现的主题时，用水工作和设计的想法就出现了。

Launch event for DATOGRAPH UP/DOWN “Lumen” by A. Lange - Söhne at Solo Office, Spain, in October 2018, in collaboration with Openhouse magazine and designer Sabine Marcelis. Photo by Yosigo.

发布会-A.Lange“Lumen”上/下的DATOGRAPH

Launch event for DATOGRAPH UP/DOWN “Lumen” by A. Lange - Söhne at Solo Office, Spain, in October 2018, in collaboration with Openhouse magazine and designer Sabine Marcelis. Photo by Yosigo.

发布会-A.Lange“Lumen”上/下的DATOGRAPH

Launch event for DATOGRAPH UP/DOWN “Lumen” by A. Lange - Söhne at Solo Office, Spain, in October 2018, in collaboration with Openhouse magazine and designer Sabine Marcelis. Photo by Yosigo.

发布会-A.Lange“Lumen”上/下的DATOGRAPH

Launch event for DATOGRAPH UP/DOWN “Lumen” by A. Lange - Söhne at Solo Office, Spain, in October 2018, in collaboration with Openhouse magazine and designer Sabine Marcelis. Photo by Yosigo.

发布会-A.Lange“Lumen”上/下的DATOGRAPH

Your projects can be read as a paean to light and its properties—reflection, refraction and colour. Where did this fascination originate from? I’m always searching for moments of wonder and I think light is the single catalyst of this. Without light there is nothing. It creates the ability for me to play with materials. To work with diffusion, refraction, transparency and shadow. I don’t think if it’s possible to run out of inspiration when working with light. Neon features predominantly in your work. Why are you so attracted to this element? Has the advent of newer LED technologies added to neon’s allure? For me, neon is very special. It is light that has its own shape. It’s not a light source that needs to be hidden, but something that can be displayed and shown off as its own beautiful entity. Of course I am also very interested in modern developments in LED technologies, but for the moment no alternative exists that can compete with the beauty of real glass neon tubes as a light source. The pieces in the Voie Lights and Dawn Light series can be classified both as light fittings and light sculptures. Do you approach them primarily as functional objects or art pieces? The experience is the function. They are aesthetic objects with a function that create a moment of wonder.

你的作品可以被解读为对光线及其特性的赞歌-反射、折射和颜色。这种魅力是从何而来的？我总是在寻找奇迹的时刻，我认为光是唯一的催化剂。没有光就什么都没有。它创造了我玩材料的能力。与扩散，折射，透明度和阴影一起工作。我不认为光的作用是否会耗尽灵感。霓虹灯的特征主要在你的作品中。你为什么对这个元素如此着迷？新的LED技术的出现是否增加了霓虹灯的吸引力？对我来说，霓虹灯很特别。它有它自己的形状。它不是需要隐藏的光源，而是可以显示和显示为自己美丽的实体的东西。当然，我对LED技术的现代发展也很感兴趣，但目前还没有其他的选择，可以与真正的玻璃霓虹灯管作为光源的美丽竞争。在灯饰和黎明灯系列中的作品可以分为灯光配件和灯光雕塑。你主要是把它们当作功能性物品还是艺术品？经验就是功能。它们是具有创造奇迹的功能的审美对象。

Sabine Marcelis, Voie Lights, Edition #1, 2015. Comissionned by Etage Projects Gallery, Copenhagen, DK. Photo © Lee Wei Swee.

萨宾·马塞利斯(SabineMarcelis)，视频灯，第1版，2015年。埃蒂奇项目画廊，哥本哈根，DK。照片：李伟。

Sabine Marcelis, Voie Lights, Edition #2, 2016. Comissionned by Etage Projects Gallery, Copenhagen, DK. Photo courtesy of Sabine Marcelis.

SabineMarcelis，VOIE灯，第2版，2016年。Edgage项目画廊，哥本哈根，DK。由SabineMarcelis提供的照片。

Sabine Marcelis, Voie Lights (process), 2015. Photo by Tim Buiting.

SabineMarcelis，VOIE灯（工艺），2015年。照片是蒂姆·布廷。

Your work brings to mind the minimalist compositions of Dan Flavin’s fluorescent light installations and the perceptual uncertainty of James Turrell’s work. Which artists or movements have inspired you? Obviously the light and space movement very much. They were pioneers of not only playing with light and space, but also the use of industrial materials. Helen Pashgian, Dewain Valentine, they pioneered the use of resins from industry in an aesthetic way. I am also very inspired by Op Art, the Zero movement and De Stijl. They all use very minimal shapes in an extremely impactful way. Strong gestures and pure ideas. You recently participated at Design Miami with The Shapes of Water. Tell us a bit about the project and the inspiration behind it. I was asked by FENDI to design their ten-year anniversary booth at Design Miami. 10 water sculptures were created, each one interpreting a different Fendi icon in an abstracted way while using the strong reoccurring theme of water in their history. I am so excited to have worked with water as a material in this project. As with resin and glass, water provides the opportunity to play with transparency and interaction with light. I also had the element of movement to design with which opened up a whole new world of possibilities for me. I cannot wait to do more!

你的作品让人想起丹·弗拉文的荧光灯装置的极简主义作品，以及詹姆斯·特雷尔作品中的感性不确定性。哪些艺术家或运动鼓舞了你？很明显，光和空间的运动是非常重要的。他们不仅是光和空间游戏的先驱，也是使用工业材料的先驱。海伦·普什金，杜温·瓦伦丁，他们以一种审美的方式开创了工业树脂的使用。我也很受Op艺术，零运动和de Stijl的启发。它们都以极其有效的方式使用极小的形状。强有力的姿态和纯粹的想法。你最近参加了迈阿密设计与水的形状。告诉我们一些关于这个项目及其背后的灵感。芬迪让我设计迈阿密设计公司成立十周年的展位。创作了10件水雕塑，每一件都以抽象的方式诠释了一个不同的芬迪图标，同时使用了他们历史上强烈的水再现主题。我很高兴在这个项目中用水作为材料。与树脂和玻璃一样，水提供了与光的透明和相互作用的机会。我也有设计的运动元素，它为我开辟了一个全新的可能性世界。我等不及要做更多了！

Sabine Marcelis, The Shapes of Water, 2018. Installation view at Design Miami 2018. Commissioned by FENDI for the 10th year anniversary of its participation in Design Miami. Photo © FENDI, courtesy of Design Miami.

SabineMarcelis，水的形状，2018年。在2018年设计迈阿密的安装视图。Fendi委托其参加设计迈阿密十周年。照片（照片）Fendi，设计迈阿密的礼貌。

Sabine Marcelis, Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana (detail), 2018. From the series The Shapes of Water, commissioned by FENDI for the 10th year anniversary of its participation in Design Miami. Photo by Carl Kleiner, courtesy of FENDI.

Sabine Marcelis，意大利文明宫，2018年。该系列的水的形状，委托Fendi为其参与迈阿密设计十周年。照片由卡尔凯鹏华盈提供，芬迪。

Sabine Marcelis, Totem lights, 2018. Photo by Pim Top.

萨宾·马塞利斯，图腾之灯，2018年。照片由皮姆托普。

I’d like to create something you haven’t seen before, or that causes a moment of wonder. Sabine Marcelis

我想要创造一些你以前没见过的东西，或者这会引起一些奇迹。萨宾·马塞利斯

Sabine Marcelis, Totem lights, 2018. Photo by Pim Top.

萨宾·马塞利斯，图腾之灯，2018年。照片由皮姆托普。

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