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Objects Where Function And Meaning Converge

  • ÆTHER/MASS
  • Antwerp , Belgium
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Objects Where Function And Meaning Converge

The Bio

ÆTHER/MASS is a Brussels-based design practice founded in 2022 by Davy Grosemans. Rooted in a belief in deep collaboration between designer and artisan, the practice explores what becomes possible when conceptual vision meets mastered craftsmanship.

It emerged from an understanding of collaboration not as a division of labour, but as a shared act of creation. At its core lies the alliance between designer and maker — an exchange that expands possibility by drawing on skills refined through years of dedication.

Get in touch with us if any inquiries into ÆTHER/MASS’s work

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The Products
  • Beam Light Beam Light
    • Beam Light
    • Price on request
    • ÆTHER/MASS
  • Aperture Low Table Aperture Low Table
    • Aperture Low Table
    • Price on request
    • ÆTHER/MASS
  • Parabole Chair Parabole Chair
    • Parabole Chair
    • Price on request
    • ÆTHER/MASS
  • TwentyTwenty TwentyTwenty
    • TwentyTwenty
    • 1.860 EUR
    • ÆTHER/MASS
    • ex. VAT
  • Strata Mirror Strata Mirror
    • Strata Mirror
    • 1.760 EUR
    • ÆTHER/MASS
    • ex. VAT
  • Shroud Lamp Shroud Lamp
    • Shroud Lamp
    • Price on request
    • ÆTHER/MASS
  • Remembering Carl Andre Candel Holder Remembering Carl Andre Candel Holder
    • Remembering Carl Andre Candel Holder
    • 1.690 EUR
    • ÆTHER/MASS
    • ex. VAT
  • Parabole Bowl I - Wood Parabole Bowl I - Wood
    • Parabole Bowl I - Wood
    • 1.340 EUR
    • ÆTHER/MASS
    • ex. VAT
  • Parabole Bowl II - Wood Parabole Bowl II - Wood
    • Parabole Bowl II - Wood
    • 1.340 EUR
    • ÆTHER/MASS
    • ex. VAT
  • Parabole Bowl I - Stone Parabole Bowl I - Stone
    • Parabole Bowl I - Stone
    • 2.350 EUR
    • ÆTHER/MASS
    • ex. VAT
  • Parabole Bowl II - Stone Parabole Bowl II - Stone
    • Parabole Bowl II - Stone
    • 2.340 EUR
    • ÆTHER/MASS
    • ex. VAT
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The Conversation

After 20 years of client-driven work, what felt missing when you sat down in your own studio and said: “This time I’m doing it for me”?

When I work for clients, it always starts with a briefing. I have become an expert in reading the clients’ mind in what he/she is looking for. This turned me into a kind of chameleon where I can adapt to any kind of style, direction and context. This made me wonder: what would I do if there was no briefing? How would I handle things when I was my own client? What if there was no briefing and I had to design something that charmed/surprised/attracted me? This turned out to be very hard after all those years but this was also the main reason for starting ÆTHER/MASS, as a quest to reclaim my personal voice in design.

You often say your objects are “in search of meaning.” Can you share a time when meaning chased you — rather than you chasing it?

I never “chase” meaning. I try to design based on gut feeling: if it feels “right”, I will continue to develop the concept into something tangible. Only when a design reaches completion, I start to realise “why” I like it and what meaning it bears. I have a few trusted friends I show the design to before I launch it to the outside world. They give me their honest opinion about it and interpret the design always in a different way then I do, giving it different meanings. It is a bit like the lyrics of a song you love. The meaning you give to the words will be totally different compared to the composer who wrote it.

When you collaborate with a craftsman and the material fights back, what conversation are you really having — with the thing, with the maker, or with yourself?

Since I don’t have my own workshop, I never start from the material itself. The development of a concept leads automatically to a material. As soon as I figure out what material could fit the concept or design best, I start searching the Internet for possible craftsmen ( realising that some amazing craftsman have no or really crappy websites…) I visit them and if I have a personal connection, I show them the drawings or mock-up. First reaction is mostly: “This is not possible”. This is the moment I ask the “Why not?” question and the collaboration starts. They bring in their technical knowledge and inspired by their solutions, the design develops into something different and better. This alliance multiplies what is possible by getting access to the skills that have been mastered by others.

If you weren’t designing objects, what would you be making — and what would it look like?

If I weren’t designing objects, I wouldn’t be designing at all. I have often asked myself this question but I wouldn’t know what I would be doing if I -for some reason- could not design anymore.

What’s the fear you carry when you decide to make something completely unconstrained — and how do you sit with it?

“Is it any good?” is always the question that pops into mind. When you make personal work, you need to act as your own guide and critic. I have also learned that you need to make it before you know if it is any good. On paper, a lot of thing work beautifully, but strange and unexpected things (good and bad) happen when you bring it into reality. Designing is a process. During the months of development, fear turns into hope, frustration, pride, disappointment, joy,… You go through every kind of emotion before you see the end result.