Studio Swine

Studio Swine was established in 2011 by Japanese architect Azusa Murakami and British artist Alexander Groves. Straddling the spheres of art, design, and cinema, the duo’s work has explored themes of regional identity and the future of resources in the age of globalization. The fragile state of our planet and the urgency to find sustainable solutions drive the studio’s investigation into new and innovative materials. Their unique sensory installations are an ongoing series of works, which follows the tradition of artists emulating nature. In the same way ancient civilizations made structures to chart the passage of the sun or early cave paintings to depict the natural world, Studio Swine pursues an innate human desire to use art to connect with and revere the natural systems on which our existence depends. “Ephemeral Tech” explores this intrinsic driver of creation using technology to evoke both primordial origins and future worlds.

Notable projects include Infinity Blue (2018), a monumental breathing sculpture that pays homage to one of the world’s smallest but most important organisms, cyanobacteria, on permanent display at the Eden Project in Cornwall; and New Spring (2017), a tree-like structure that emits scented mist bubbles, commissioned by COS. The work of Studio Swine is included in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Centre Pompidou, Paris; and Vitra Design Museum, Germany. Studio Swine is the recipient of Design/Miami Designer of the Future (2015), the EDIDA International Award (2018), and the Fast Forward Award (2016) by Architectural Digest Germany, among others.