40 Under 40: Nick Dong at the Renwick

A big welcome home to American Steel Studios’ Nick Dong, who traveled to Washington DC this month to install his Enlightenment Room as part of the Smithsonian Institute’s 40 Under 40: Craft Futures at the Renwick Gallery of Contemporary Craft and Decorative Arts.

Dong describes himself as a “conceptual metalsmith, mixed-media sculptor, and socio-commodity engineer,” and builds works that ignite an “experiential moment” for his audience: his most recent installation — a chair centered in a 14-by-4 foot room packed with 10,000 handmade porcelain tiles, plus stainless and acrylic mirror tiles, a 24-karat gold and copper lamp, and 613 LEDs, to boot — created an immersive environment that responds to participants’ touch, illuminating and rising to an auditory crescendo that fades when the participant leaves his or her seat.

“Art is not an object nor a picture,” he says, “art is the unique impact created by that object or picture.”

Read about Dong in our July Newletter, or check out the Washington Post’s review of the select group of precocious talents under 40.

Nick Dong Light

Nick Dong Dark

Or take a seat in the Enlightenment Room without leaving your chair.

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