Alisa Sheinson: "Light has exciting meanings to me".
The designer inserts objects into tiles and allows us to observe them using internal light: "Something living that is seemingly frozen - when the light brings it back to life".
Reut Barnea 04.11.2018
"Light has exciting meanings to me", says designer Alisa Sheinson, who nowadays is working on a new series of artistic and innovative light sculptures, which will be displayed in an upcoming exhibition that will be held in her studio this Hanuka. "The knowledge we fill our lives with is light, we have to feel it, merge with it".
The artworks in the series, the result of a six-year-long investigation, are some kind of peeking-tiles - square surfaces that contain different 3D elements.
"It's an entire world, not just a circle that allows peeking. You don't see the light itself, you see what's inside the peeking hole. This observation generates a burst of emotions".
Her sculpture, Sheinson explains, are based on associations from nature, organic shapes. "When you look at the designs, you can feel the moon surface, the Japanese garden or the pebbles - they are all a living thing that seems frozen, as the illumination brings it back to life".
The elements extracted from nature are produced by castings of epoxy and polyurethane, and the lighting comes from the back of the object.
"Things that are too complecated"
Sheinson (58) started her way as an artist by studying in Betzalel, learning visual arts, but was immediately attracted to the world of designing signs and wayfinding. Her studio exists for nearly 30 years, and in it, you can find designers from many different fields, such as interior designers, graphic designers, architects, and signing experts.
It has been nearly 14 years since Alisa began undertaking tasks of designing the interior of public spaces and since then, it became her main expertise, designing spaces in Israel, as well as overseas.
Some of her most known projects include the main lobby of Hayovel Tower (Tel Aviv government office area), the main lobby of Amot Insurance Tower on Menachem Begin road, the frontal area of the Tel Aviv stock exchange, and many others.
In all of her projects, the lighting has a special place in the planning of her work. "I have always used light and illumination and for the past 12 years, I have been creating light sculptures in the spaces I design. They often become the main focus of the project.
I told myself that if I can design those, I can manufacture them as well. Today it's very common, but years ago, nobody did that. This is my fun: trying to new things, different things. Sometimes they are too sophisticated. I often think, in a second, about creating something, that ends up taking half a year to complete.
Back to the Eurovision
Throughout the years, Sheinson has designed a series of tables, light-boxes type of sculptures, a series of tiles, 3D printed light sculptures, and light art based on fabric and nylon bags. One of the new and exciting projects she started working on recently, is the rebranding of the wayfinding and signing system of the Tel Aviv Expo, as the latter will host the 2019 Eurovision, this coming May.
"My life always revolves in circles", she says. "In 1979, during my freshmen year in Betzalel, I was asked to help with the broadcasting of the Eurovision in Jerusalem. Now, this becomes full-circle for me, as I am once again behind the scenes of it.
Are you going to match the branding of the Expo to the Eurovision's character?
"Especially when involving such a colorful event, I favor taking a different direction with the branding. Colorful projects in color-filled spaces, don't last. It's the quietness, the clarity, that form a rope one can grab and be assisted by.
For instance, if the signing system on the Ayalon highway was colorful, the information on it would have gotten lost. People in Israel think that the bigger and more ornated things are, the prettier they are, but that isn't the case at all. I try creating a branding that will be clear and innovative, one that will stand the test of time, help people get where they need to go and help them understand the surface".