Cranbrook Academy of Art graduate students, Patrick Gavin and Jonathan Muecke, create objects that explore the human relationship with the physical world, including space, division, and boundaries. Works in New Physical Consequences include objects that intend to orchestrate relationships or instigate the recognition of boundaries amongst and between things and people, as well as pieces that invite reflection on the most basic ways humans interact with materials and physical reality.

Gavin, who studied furniture design at Rhode Island School of Design and developed his technical skills at both an engineering consultancy and a furniture manufacturing company, explores boundaries, physical space and the interaction between and amongst people and things.

He describes some of the objects in New Physical Consequences, such as his 3-Way Confessional, "Device" (2008), as being “prop-like, almost like they should be on a stage” or as “works of fiction” that have been created in a process not unlike traditional product design but that fit unexpected scenarios, inspiring heightened awareness of space, boundaries, and proximity.

In describing his work and intentions, Gavin frequently mentions the concept of orchestrating, corralling or composing people within a physical space, often in unnatural or unexpected proximity. This concept is evident in "Facilitator" (2008), a metal structure designed to facilitate discussion or debate amongst people standing within a confined space—divided by a metal structure, yet still closer to one another than might be expected in a situation of casual discourse. In this case, the object leaves the impression with the viewer that a great deal of activity can or is happening in a small space.

“I like this idea of composing and orchestration. Those are things that are really fascinating to me. I’m setting up these divisions or objects that in a way bring [people] closer together than would typically be natural. The object facilitates an unusual reaction,” Gavin says.

In another work, “Basic Boundaries” (2008), Gavin uses the division of physical space to corral people within an enclosure that may be perceived as a barrier from the outside, but from within creates a sense of openness and movement—a “play of enclosure and openness.”

By creating structures and objects that influence interactions, Gavin also seeks to explore new typologies of objects--to create a use or perception that one wouldn’t expect from a specific object. At the same time, Gavin doesn’t want the objects to obstruct or impede the perception of interaction.

“I think we’re very fascinated by objects but I think ultimately, I do want the objects to kind of disappear in a way,…not disappear but perform a certain function and what’s left is, again, kind of this idea of physical interactions,” he explains.

While Gavin’s work explores boundaries and composition of people or things within physical space using designed objects, Muecke’s work focuses on exploring the material, physical and humanistic realms of our environment and surroundings.

Muecke, in describing his work and process, talks of “merging humanistic, spiritual and material realms” and of negotiating these three aspects to create an object that exemplifies what he describes as a “wholeness” that results from a successful negotiation of these three priorities.

In exploring the physical world and what makes us human, Muecke’s works act as tests—explorations of many aspects of the physical world, from physics to natural phenomenon. His work incorporates fire, heat, light and shadow to explore how we, as humans, relate to our physical world.

His ‘tests’ of materials and the physical world result in objects that challenge the audience’s expectations. Muecke sees this as worth exploring as “the physical is our primary way of understanding what‘s around [us].” In addition, Muecke explores situations, objects and elements that are not clearly defined or spaces that are not clearly delineated. In testing these situations, Muecke knowingly sets up perceptions that may be undefined or ambiguous.

“I very much enjoy the fact that [the object] can be meaningful to someone in a very particular way and also to someone else in a very different way. I’m not trying to say ‘this form is meant to be this exact thing’.” This notion of kind of ‘in-between’ place or realms is where, to me, the greatest creativity lies or the greatest potential lies--not belonging to this and not belonging to that, but belonging to this kind of margin,” Muecke explains.

With an educational and professional background in architecture, Muecke selected Cranbrook’s graduate program in 3D Design to explore how principles of architecture can be applied to other creative work and to indulge his desire to create objects in a more immediate way than he had in his architectural experiences. His process includes drawings, models, experiments with materials and often many iterations and tests of the concepts he seeks to present in his objects.

While he negotiates the materials and the physical forces at work, he does not overly concern himself with what exactly the object is or will be, or even if it will ‘work,’ until late in his process. Some of his work, such as a small copper footstool is, by his own admission, ‘ridiculous,’ but it presents a challenge to typology and surprises viewers by its seeming lack of true function in a real scenario.

“Ultimately, I’m always interested in not creating a form first or a meaningful form. I’m not kind of stylistically driven by certain preoccupations with curved things, or straight things, or the material. I’m interested in taking circumstance and context of multiple things and kind of [working] at them to produce a form,” says Muecke.

For both Gavin and Muecke, New Physical Consequences at Re:View Contemporary represents an important opportunity to position their work in a new setting, outside the more insulated Cranbrook environment.

“Ultimately, it’s a test to see whether these things work the way I want them to. Whether they do what I intend them to,” Gavin explains.

In addition to positioning the works in a gallery setting and allowing a new audience to interact with the work, Muecke looks to the show to test the work on a different level. “It’s a test for me. Not just in the perception of the work but in the formulation of the work,” says Muecke.

Gavin and Muecke break away from fixed models of design in their work, breaking some of the conventions or expectations of product or object design as well as of their furniture design and architecture backgrounds. The work causes the viewer to relate again to basic types of relationships: the materials, the scale of things and the very basic understanding of objects and physical space.