Imagine a dimension between actualization and imagination, between the frictionless intellect and the body-bound world. In this dimension, which is where we live, sculptural designers are casting metal using tools that haven’t changed since the Kingdom of Benin—but the forms they cast may be almost thought-into-being—modeled by nothing more substantial than keystrokes. Virtual reality, that newest of technologies, uses spatial tracking to virtualize a user’s finger movements, returning the hand to its pre-digital role as a designer’s primary instrument. Technology is advancing beyond mediatory interfaces and absorbing the world wholecloth. As we enter the age of VR, AR, and AI, sculptural designers will find that the space of continuum between mental conception and physical execution is more broadly relevant than ever before. The physical workshops of makers are less and less plausible as a binary opposite of office-bound design practices. COLLECTIBLE’s Curated section this year is a presentation of works that bring to bear digital technologies and embodied knowledge alike.

Brecht Wright Gander

Chair of the CURATED section, Artist & Writer (US)

Adrian Madlener

Journalist (US)

Max Radford

Gallerist (UK)

Olivier Zeitoun

Design Curator at the Centre Pompidou, Paris (France)