Lukas Cober
Lukas Cober is a craftsman and designer based in the Netherlands. He considers each piece of his work as a "static sculpture", building a pure dialogue between materials and shapes. Cober emphasizes the value and aesthetics of the chosen raw materials, creating minimalist products with timeless beauty.
Using materials as a medium, he believes that only through patient waiting and thorough exploration can various possibilities be ultimately revealed. Lukas Cober often conceptualizes a product through the characteristics of materials and handmade techniques, incorporating present feelings. The materials and shapes contribute to the functionality of the object itself, be it a chair, a bag, or a lamp.
- Art: Lukas Cober
Materials are a rational exploration, and shapes are the result of sensibility. How do you maintain a balance between the two?
I think not being an “educated” craftsman in a classical sense and how I approach every new material in an unbiased and “naïve” way makes the exploration not very rational but more emotional. For me balancing an emotional approach and sensible shapes comes very natural.
How do you interpret the fluidity expressed in "static sculpture"?
The fluidity in my work comes from all directions. It’s the fluid way of how an object comes to live, from concept to creating. Obviously everything starts with the “idea” but from there I move forward and develop the pieces in the process. Not a single time I sketched out a new idea and ended up doing what I had initially in mind. So it’s a very fluid process.
Fluid is also the material on many of my works that at one point in a liquid state, then solidifies. All the shapes that you will find in my works resemble a fluid line. No element is simply glued flush against the other surface. Everything will have a fluent transition that is hand carved to make a piece feel like its “one-piece”.A static sculpture that reminds the motion of everything that went into the creation of this piece is the result of it.
Do you prefer to identify more as a designer or artist, or as an "very physically working person or skilled craftsman"? Why?
I think I would define myself mostly as an artist because my work evolves from curiosity and the will of self expression rather than trying to define and please trends. I do what is necessary to achieve for what I have in mind. This involves a lot of experimenting and fearless craftsmanship.
In the "KURO Series", the "thickness of the top surface", which is necessary for the existence of the works, seems to have disappeared after being deconstructed,How do you think about this transformation?
In the same way how I tread all my works, the pieces come to live by removing material. It’s a sculptural way of creating. Same as a stonemason would treat a block of stone, I take the “blank material” and give it its shapes and details by carving material off by hand. Like this every piece gets its own unique twerks and its “soul”.
The Kuro table would simply be very thick square wooden plates combined, if not carved afterwards.
This transformation from getting from something very simple to something very defined is the signature that makes the piece unique.
Is "going against the trend" another form of evolution?
I don’t think its about going against the trend but about finding authenticity and value in a world where taste is being analized, commercialized and dictaded through algorithm´s. I am trying to create something that is not build to please a trend but to create work that has real value because of the dedication, time and passion that has been put into it.Objects with a signature and a soul that would not fit into a commercial context. I believe this is the antipole to the evolution of our society and the more we commercialize things to feed the mass the deeper our inner urge will become to find individualism and authenticity.
