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Object Overview
The Modern mercury barometer, dating to around 2010, embodies the radical minimalism characteristic of the last decade. The narrow beech stick, elongated vertically and devoid of decorative excess, is an elegant board along which runs the transparent tube of the cistern barometer. This barometer is free of unnecessary details — all attention is focused on the refinement of forms and the purity of lines that highlight the significance and beauty of simplicity.
The cistern is a glass bulb shaped into a perfect sphere. This spherical form, seemingly suspended on the slender wooden body, evokes a sense of fragility and geometric perfection. Encased in a transparent vessel, the mercury obeys invisible natural laws, its movements recorded on a precise scale engraved directly onto the barometer’s wooden body.
The scale, marked in both millimeters of mercury and millibars, is meticulously embedded into the wood. The aesthetic contrast between the warm, almost velvety texture of beech and the cool transparency of mercury is enhanced by the inscriptions in Dutch — standard weather indicators rendered in the same minimalist style. Their presence evokes the instrument’s clear and straightforward functionality, weaving contemporary pragmatism into the ancient methodology of measurement.
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cistern
The Modern mercury barometer challenges traditional perceptions of meteorological instruments, presenting a dialogue between the utilitarian and the artistic that guides the eye and mind towards simple yet profound truths. Its minimalist form and absence of extraneous details create space for contemplation on the essence of measurement and on how the simple play of light on the glass tube can connect man and nature, modernity and history.