T̷h̷o̷m̷a̷s̷ M̷e̷d̷i̷c̷u̷s̷

Just completed this new piece, quite a tricky one. It brings some major technical and theoretical steps forward. For the first time, the anamorphic images are composed in central perspective, enabling a much closer viewing distance. Conceptually, Coopparatus draws on cybernetic approaches, where meaning emerges primarily from its operations, making the conditions of seeing visible. SETUP Coopparatus is an anamorphic, rotating installation in which four images can assemble. At its center is a cubic image body made of 144 glass strips, enclosed in a glass hood. Distributed across the strips are four shattered images. The fragments are arranged in central perspective so that after each 90° rotation of the installation a different image becomes visible. They appear especially clearly when one eye is closed. In the intermediate positions, the images break apart into a cloud of fragments. The drive unit consists of a turntable with a geared motor. The indexing table moves stepwise: after each 90° step, the mechanism decelerates gently, pauses briefly, and then begins to rotate slowly again. Four depictions of hands can be seen, with each pair of opposing images occupying the same silhouette: in one, a hand holds various picked mushrooms; opposite, the hand itself becomes a nutrient ground and is overgrown by bracket fungi. In another, the hand holds an amethyst; opposite, the hand is petrified and set with garnets. READING Coopparatus is not merely an apparatus for bringing images forth. Through the use of mechanical, material, craft-based, and perspectival techniques, the installation expands the immediate question “WHAT do I see?” into another: “HOW do I see the images?” Ordinary image-viewing is shifted by the technical set-up so that the conditions of seeing move into focus. Coopparatus brings the operation behind representation to the foreground… [You’re still here? I’ve hit Instagram’s caption limit. Continue via the link in my bio.] Slides 7 and 16: Niklas Luhmann, Die Kunst der Gesellschaft, 1. Aufl. (1995), S. 191, 227 #AnamorphicArt #Anamorphosis #OpticalArt #IllusionArt #ContemporaryArt

Take Care of Wonder is an anamorphic installation that was created for the Monaco Pavilion at Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan. As you walk around the object, image fragments arrange themselves into three different motifs. A human hand with a moth, a bird's wing and the words TAKE CARE OF WONDER are visible from three orthogonal viewpoints. The artwork is made of structural steel that has been laser-cut, welded, powder-coated and screwed together. The cross-hatching technique of the depictions was not chosen by chance: It allowed detailed drawings in which all the lines remained connected via a kind of grid. This made it possible to laser-cut the image fragments in one piece at a time and screw them to the basic structure. Take Care of Wonder epitomises the difficult relationship between humans and the earth's ecosystems. The steel installation on the artificial island of Yumeshima expresses an appeal and at the same time remains stuck in the dilemma that human habitat largely contradicts coexistence with non-human animals. Thank you @simmetrico_official for initiating this! Thank you @pavillonmonacomc for providing this incredible opportunity! Thank you @m.gassebner for helping to transform a weightless 3D model into a heavy steel-object! Thank you @martini_arthandling for helping out spontaneously! Slides 1, 3, 5 and 9 by @simmetrico_official @expo2025japan #anamorphicart #anamorphicsculpture #steelart #metalart #humannature #humananimal #expo2025 #monacopavilion #expo2025osaka #osaka #yumeshima #simmetrico #takecareofwonder

Before Human Animal Binary moves to it's next location I finally managed to film the piece from 2022 in a studio setting at the metalworking shop of @m.gassebner Thank you for providing this ideal space! I was nerdy enough to find a way to rotate two tons of concrete, glass and steel effortlessly on a very specific rotary table that stops every 90° only trough gear, without any software. :D Thanks to @filmlicht.at for providing the perfect light equipment and to @stefwanie for the help! #humananimalbinary #biodiversitycrisis @taktomat.de #glassart #stainedglass #anamorphicart #contemporaryglass

A few moments from the workshop over the past five years. #artiststudio #atelierworkshop #glassart #workshopphotography #glassandsteel

Folded Light Between ornament and installation, this transom window is made of UV-bonded float glass and hand-blown antique glass. Its faceted structure draws on the geometry and colours of the existing door and frame panels, transforming them into a new form. The work is an experiment in expanding techniques of ornamental art glazing. #ornamentalglazing #glassart #architecturalglass #antiqueglass #transomwindow

Here is a making of from my latest installation called Coopparatus: 1 - drafting the four images 2 - drawing the actual four images on paper 3 - Scanning and colorizing the images digitally 4 - planning the fragmentation of the images 5 - planning the construction of the installation 6 - building the basic structure of the installation. I even developed a safety clutch for this piece so that the roundtable and the cube aren’t coupled rigidly 7 - painting the fragments on the glass strips according to the templates 8 - firing the paint in the kiln. The process of painting and firing is repeated several times. 9 - assembling the piece Parallel to all these steps, I worked on a textual concept for the installation. I found some very useful passages in Die Kunst der Gesellschaft by Niklas Luhmann. At one point, Luhmann almost seems to provide a basic construction plan for my anamorphic cubes, but stops short precisely where asymmetry would be needed for the work to correspond to Spencer-Brown’s concept in Laws of Form. In a way, Coopparatus became the paradoxical blind-spot figure of Spencer-Brown’s idea of distinction and Heinz von Foerster’s second-order cybernetics, forcing the viewer to recognize themself as part of the apparatus’s operating principle. In this way, I found a theoretical framework that fits the work quite well, because it makes it possible to think its content from the operations of the installation itself rather than simply reading associative meanings into it. #makingof #glassart #anamorphicart #arttheory

Here’s the full video of my new anamorphic installation, Coopparatus. More about the project via the link in my bio. #anamorphosis #anamorphicart #IllusionArt #opticalart #ContemporaryArt

2025 01 - Cave formations in Vietnam photo by @stefwanie 02 - Artistic Alchemy in the Alps, Stained Glass Quarterly @sgaa_hq 03 - Take Care of Wonder, Monaco Pavillon, Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan @pavillonmonacomc @expo2025japan , photo by @simmetrico_official 04 - Animal shelter, Innsbruck @tierschutzverein_tirol , photo by @stefwanie 05 - Human Animal Binary, IAM Illusion Art Museum, Prague @iamprague 06 - EYEEYE, Boutique Vacheron Constantin, Geneva @vacheronconstantin 07 - ARTE - Illusion - Trugbilder der Kunst @ralphloop @arte.tv 08 - Polyhedra, Das Wundervoll Coworking, Innsbruck @das.wundervoll 09 - Lectern, Underbridge Festival, St. Bartlmä, Innsbruck @_underbridge_ @snktbrtlm , photo by @koksederphotography

I am delighted that Polyhedra is now on display in the stairwell of @das.wundervoll an ideal location where the installation can be viewed from all sides. Thanks! #Polyhedra #GlassGeometry #glassinstallation

Lectern is a wall mosaic that relates back to the public art project Best Before from 2019. The picture refers to the fragility of democracy, which is under particular pressure in many places in light of the outbreak of armed conflicts: the rights of all end where the rights of the strongest begin. The installation was exhibited as part of @_underbridge_ festival at @snktbrtlm in Innsbruck in September. Thank you @_hnrx_ and @melaniegandyra for organising this wonderful event! Photos on slide 3 and 7 by @koksederphotography Dimensions: 100 x 100 cm Materials: genuine antique glass, hardboard, varnish, adhesive, linseed oil putty #Lectern #BestBefore #GlassArt #MosaicArt #WallMosaic #ContemporaryArt #InstallationArt #PoliticalArt #PublicArt #ArtInPublicSpace #Democracy #PostDemocracy #CulturalCritique #ArtAndPolitics #SiteSpecific #HandmadeArt #AntiqueGlass #StainedGlass #GlassMosaic #StudioPractice #MaterialStudies #FestivalArt #ExhibitionView #Innsbruck #Tirol #Austria #UnderbridgeFestival #SNKTBRTLM #AustrianArt #ThomasMedicus

Incredibly happy I had the chance to be part of this documentary by @ralphloop about illusion in art for @arte.tv and @zdf.de together with: artists @Cinta_Vidal @ElmgreenAndDragsetStudio #LarsEidinger @TonyMatelli curator @sandra_pisot art historian #SaraRagazzini psychologist @AlaAlsaaleh production @medea.film.factory #IreneHöfer Thank you @stefwanie for the support! In the almost one-hour film I had the privilege to speak about baroque artists #SamuelVanHoogstraten and #AndreaPozzo as well as about my personal artworks. Watch via link in my bio! - #Kunst #Illusion #OptischeTäuschung #Kunstgeschichte #ContemporaryArt #VisualPerception #Anamorphose #AnamorphicArt #TrompeLOeil #Glaskunst #StainedGlass #PublicArt #KunstimöffentlichenRaum #InstallationArt #ArteDoku #Glaskunst #Bleiverglasung #StainedGlass #StainedGlassArt #OptischeTäuschung #Illusion #Anamorphose #Kunst #ContemporaryArt #VisualPerception #LightArt #SiteSpecific #PublicArt #KulturDoku #ArteTV

Happy to share this studio recording, will post some behind-the-scenes-stuff, text and on-site photos later... Take Care of Wonder is an anamorphic installation that was created for the Monaco Pavilion at @expo2025japan in Osaka. Thank you @simmetrico for initiating this! Thank you @pavillonmonacomc for providing this incredible opportunity! Thank you @m.gassebner for helping to transform a weightless 3D model into a heavy steel-object! #anamorphicart #anamorphicsculpture #steelart #metalart #humannature #humananimal #expo2025 #monacopavilion #expo2025osaka #simmetrico #takecareofwonder