Meet our Guest with ENESS
Image: ENESS, Modern Guru and the Path to Artificial Happiness, 2023 in Chateaugiron. Photo by David Zanardi. Courtesy of ENESS.
ENESS is an art and technology studio founded in 1997 and led by artist Nimrod Weis. The multidisciplinary team explores the intersection between the virtual and the physical world in the creation of temporary and permanent interactive public art, questioning how we view cities and their spaces and share ways in which technology and art bond us together.
Pioneers of new media art, ENESS artworks combine sculpture, textiles, design, furniture, software development, music and story. Their interactive installations are commissioned by urban and cultural precincts, festivals, galleries and museums of modern art worldwide. GWA has loved working with ENESS on the contractual arrangements for its commission and loan projects.
You’re celebrating your 25th year as a studio. Tell us a little bit about your journey and how your practice has evolved over that time.
ENESS was started in 1997 with the dream of utilising technology in more creative and tangible ways, back when buttons were grey and square. We were exploring so many new techniques and technologies that are now common practice. We were blurring the lines between the virtual and the physical world. Back then, it was about creating the wonder and the gimmick of it all, the innovation and the new. How do we bring the digital world out into the physical world? Now we are equally as interested in why we do that, and how it affects the world and the communities that are engaging with our work.
Can you give us an insight into the inner workings of the ENESS studio – What roles do staff have? What kinds of skill sets do you have in-house?
The ENESS team includes artists and designers (with industrial design, 3D modelling, rendering and graphic design skills), software programmers, project managers, installers, client liaison and communications specialists.
Image: ENESS A Solar-Powered Bench That Spins Ever So Slowly. Photo by Ben Weinstein. Courtesy of ENESS.
You seem to operate more like a design practice than a traditional art practice – would you agree?
ENESS is a combination of a design practice and a traditional art practice because the design practice aspect of our studio offers a way to communicate to a broad audience, making the work more accessible to people by having a functional benefit. Being a part-design practice also enables us to create an objective within the public realm. For example, with the Solar-Powered Bench that Spins Ever So Slowly, it’s a design execution because it’s functional – it introduces play, a sense of fun and entertainment into a space – but then it’s also an artful execution. In terms of where our ideas come from – they do frequently come from a pure art space. We dream up artistic responses to current issues like AI and then we use design principles to execute these artistic concepts. In this way, the design process helps us to bring our dreamed-up works to fruition.
Image: This is Air visualisation by Zir Visual. Courtesy of ENESS.
Your latest work is about to launch, (This is) Air – a collaboration with Perth-based architect Nic Brunsdon and commissioned by the National Gallery of Victoria for their 2023 architecture commission. Tell us about this collaboration and your contribution to it.
(This is) Air is a concept by Nic Brunsdon. The ENESS design team executed the production and were involved in the design development and automation, for both the breathing system and the sewing pattern and geometry of the 14-metre sphere. We are also very excited to exhibit our Solar-Powered Bench that Spins Ever So Slowly alongside (This is) Air. This is the perfect site for our benches, given that the audience will be able to sit on them in a public space and slowly rotate while taking in a differing view of other artworks, including the Architecture Commission.
Where do you envision ENESS heading in the next 10 years? What else can we expect?
To keep on striving and innovating and keeping it fun. The idea of innovation or change or evolving something means you don’t know where it will end up because it hasn’t been done yet. So, we’re excited to let the work find its audience and for new concepts to evolve according to the zeitgeist and make sure that the work has a sense of purpose for people.
Innovation that doesn’t have a shelf space yet – we’re generally creating the shelf space; it wasn’t a thing before we started driving it. We would of course love more permanent artworks that also bring true value to communities.