Batten & Kamp From a Distance

Echo is a new series of hanging light sculptures in which minimalistic fixtures suspend aluminium replicas of branches that the designers gathered from the sites of natural disasters in their respective hometowns in New Zealand. At once delicate and brutal, these jewellery-like sculptures recall light passing through a canopy of trees, or as the designers reflect, "apparitions from a forgotten forest". The organic silhouettes of the branches stand in stark contrast to the precisely engineered light structures that frame them, producing an interplay of nature and technology, memory and transformation.

Titan Lounger - Mercury is a minimalistic lounge chair that one may expect to find bolted to the rocky surface of a distant planet. A cast aluminium seat with a texture reminiscent of a cratered lunar landscape grips a rough-cut Aurazina marble boulder with stainless steel fixings. The work’s apparent hardness belies its surprising comfort, achieved through highly considered ergonomics. Contrasting raw stone against materials associated with aerospace, the piece is at once ancient and extraterrestrial, channelling the designers’ dual interests in the past and the future.

Since 2020, Batten and Kamp have been building a creative universe of functional sculptures drawing on influences ranging from science fiction to prehistory, mixing industrial materials with naturally occurring forms. This exhibition highlights the duo’s shared sensibility and unique aesthetic language informed both by their years in the cyberpunk metropolis of Hong Kong and their childhoods in the serene natural landscapes of New Zealand.