news
  • ongoing
    exhibition

    MAK Design Lab at the Museum of applied Arts in Vienna. Within the permanent Design exhibition one can find a few of our projects like 'the idea of a tree', 'limited moths' or 'LeveL.

    MAK Design Lab

  • 15.September 2023 - 21. July 2024
    exhibition

    HEIMATEN. An exhibition and survey and an attempt to break with conventional takes on Heimat. the exhibition was shown at the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg (MK&G) in 2022. Our specially commissioned piece 'riparian cloud' is now also on show in Molfsee.

    Freilichtmuseum Molfsee

  • 15.3.2024 – 13.10.2024
    exhibition, new project

    "Water Pressure - Designing for the future" an exhibition of the MK&G Hamburg and Jane Withers Studio – looks at the water crisis from a global perspective. We were commissioned to come up with an installation celebrating water. The result "vital rain" is part of the exhibition and will stay permanently in the museums yard.
    more soon

    MKG Hamburg - Water Pressure

till you stop – cake decoration machine

how much is too much?

  • year 2010

  • categories Kinetic & Interactive Installations
    Processes / Machines & Their unique Results

  • commissioned by

    MAK Vienna

  • curated by

    Sam Jacobs

the whole machine

till you stop – cake decoration was designed for the exhibition “Design Criminals. Or a new joy into the world” – a cooperation of MAK and departure, curated by Sam Jacob. Various designers and architects were invited to continue the Viennese tradition of discourse on ‘Ornament and Crime’ and were asked to react to Design activities such as tattooing, hair dressing, or arranging flower, which usually happen outside design discourses.
till you stop – cake decoration deals with a cake decoration method that allows the customer/visitor to decide how much decoration is applied onto their cake. A simple machine decorates the cake with lines (similar to a Spirograph) and continuously decorates until the customer/visitor decides to stop the decoration process. Then in a second process sugar pearls are dropped onto the glazing. The decor is continuously changing and the costumer/visitor decides whether he prefers a simple ornament or a more complex one. Once the decoration machine is stopped it can not be started again.
The project reflects, on the one hand, the industry behind decoration (industrialized image vs. the romantic imagination) and on the other hand it should trigger people to think about the amount of decoration they actually like. 
Since 2011 till you stop – cake decoration machine is part of the permanent collection of the MAK (museum of applied Arts Vienna)

all cakes with different decoration times and patterns

pattern of pink sugar glazing

sophie, leonie and daniela m.
decoration time 1,5 min + 1 min

“Of course I wanted to make more turns of the sugar glazing, but the children wouldn’t be patient enough. Nevertheless we managed two full turns of silverpearls.” –
S.: “Like this it’s classy”

natascha n.
decoration time: 3 min + 0,5 min
"i though if it's almost balanced it must become beautiful. Not too much and not too little."

maria p.
decoration time: 7 min + 0 min
"you know, I have a lot of time and watching the machine was quite interesting. That kind of pattern - you can not do it as beautiful by hand. But silverpearls would have been too much."

people watching and interacting with the machine during the MAK Designnite at the museum

people watching and interacting with the machine during the MAK Designnite at the museum

people could either bring the cake home, or eat it right away

  • material

    machine:
    aluminium, various motors, spinning platform

    cake:
    cake, sugar fondant, sugar glazing

  • dimensions

    machine:
    40,5  x 65  x 76 cm

    cake:
    Ø 16 cm

  • developed for

    Design Criminals. Or a new Joy into the world” exhibition curated by Sam Jacob

  • collection

    part of the permanent collection of the MAK Vienna