SOFT WORKS

‘SOFT WORKS’ TAKES YOU AROUND THE DIFFERENT MEDIUMS OF “SOFTNESS”. THE PIECES FROM THE EXHIBITION ARE THE RESULT OF A TWO-MONTH HANDS-ON INVESTIGATION INTO THE FIELD OF SOFT MATERIALS.

IN A LIVING ROOM CONTEXT, NATURAL AND SYNTHETIC, PERMANENT AND EPHEMERAL AS WELL AS VIRGIN AND RECLAIMED ELEMENTS ARE JUXTAPOSED. BY DOING SO, IN DER ELST WANTS TO QUESTION COMMON NOTIONS OF CONTACT, CONSTANCY AND COMFORT. THE COLLECTION OF MATERIALS AND PROCESSES VARY WIDELY, WHILE THE OBJECTS ARE INTERLINKED BY THEIR MATCHABLE MARKS OF PRODUCTION. THUS, SILICON SEAMS BECOME STEEL WELDS, BROKEN CORK EDGES EVOLVE INTO RUBBER GRANULATE OUTLINES, AND EXPANDING FOAM VOLUMES ALTER INTO COLLAPSING WAX BLOCKS. THIS ALL COMES INTO ONE WHEN EXPERIENCING THE FULL EXHIBITION OF ‘SOFT WORKS’. CARSTEN IN DER ELST (B. 1992) IS A GERMAN FURNITURE DESIGNER AND CRAFTSMAN. HE GRADUATED IN 2020 AND CURRENTLY LIVES AND WORKS IN COLOGNE, GERMANY. HIS WORK IS AN APPRECIATION OF DIFFERENT MATERIALS AND PROCESSES. THE EXHIBITION SOFT WORK AT TABLEAU WAS HIS FIRST SOLO EXHIBITION.