We always aim for "seemingly natural unnatural beauty." Although several products use magnets, their surfaces need to be flat for adsorption. However, what is innovative about Newtons is that the adsorption surface of the objects has been transformed into a perfect curve. Therefore, "fluctuation" occurs, and the surface does not remain stable while adsorbing with the exact appropriate strength. The fluctuating characteristic makes the objects, i.e., Newtons, seem like they are alive, creating a mild sense of discomfort with regard to space. Newtons may even become "a piece of everyday art." Coincidence and necessity create a free form.

Design Team

Design & Direction: StudioYO

Craftsman: Masaki Kishimoto

movie link (Desktop)

https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/456216409

movie link (SP)

https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/456254297

https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/464179583

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There is no clearly defined product category for Newtons. Newtons are everyday tools (magnets), toys, musical instruments, and related objects. The freedom of interpretation means freedom in the market. They may be defined with regard to interior or stationary structures. They can be pieces of handicraft that an adult can play with. Their potential market may encompass its possibilities. Innovative things can help generate new demands and markets. Considering the increasing coverage of social networking services and the emergence of the entire world as a market, I believe that markets can bloom by considering the skills of craftsmen and dedicatedly seeking out unusual and innovative entities.

Turnery is often used to construct soup bowls. However, since 1864, the Shizuoka turnery has been used for small and delicate jobs, e.g., architectural ornamentation, furniture knobs, and doll tools. These fine techniques are still being used currently. Unfortunately, the use of turned products is declining owing to the availability of cheap mass-produced items, yet craftsmen are still fighting to pass on their knowledge and skills to the next generation.

Newtons were obtained from one such collaboration—Masaki Kishimoto who incorporates neodymium magnets into gentle turnery-based objects utilizing a high level of design and skill. In addition, although they are manufactured with highly producible materials that can be integrally molded when wrapping around something within them, we have used wood in this study, which increases the production time. This is because we wanted to cherish the sense of tranquility and the aging of living things one feels upon touching trees with bare hands—something that has been ingrained into our sensibilities since ancient times.

Although not easy to realize, this was finally accomplished owing to the application of advanced Japanese turnery technology. Newtons never stop changing in form. There are the concepts, natural and unnatural – gravity and magnetism, attraction and repulsion. Continuously playing with Newtons, you find yourself thinking (contemplatively or freely) about them. This might lead to some recollection, e.g., to the day when Isaac Newton discovered gravity watching an apple fall.

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