Balancing act: Karl Zahn’s poetic pieces take centre stage in the windows of New York’s ER Butler & Co

The shopfront
Brooklyn-based designer Karl Zahn is showcasing an assortment of new work in the shopfront of custom hardware manufacturer E.R. Butler & Co in New York
(Image credit: Karl Zahn)

When Karl Zahn debuted his ‘Momentum’ collection of mobiles and stabiles during last year's NYCxDesign week, it was pretty much love at first sight. This year, the young designer has come back with an assortment of new additions to the series that are installed in the showroom windows of custom hardware manufacturer ER Butler & Co in New York. Hung in four large ornamental vitrines, Zahn’s new pieces expand on the ideas of movement and balance that he so poetically addressed last year.

This year’s objects expose an even more refined way about things than their predecessors. 'I wanted to clarify some of the concepts and make things clean, work well and try some different compositions and scales,' explains Zahn. Simple hanging pieces, such as a pair of flat wooden semi-circles, take on a noble aura thanks to the fine, near-invisible chains that connect them as they suspend in the air. In another vitrine, a hammered brass ellipse floats under a smooth, wafer plate of brass, exuding a jewellery-like preciousness just on a larger scale.

More than just beautiful objects in space, the unseen appeal of Zahn’s pieces lies in the fact that when touched, the ornamental sculptures take on a life of their own. Polished brass wings teeter on top of wooden teardrop forms, while a larger scale variation of ‘The Trees and the Clouds’ from last year is comprised of wood pendulums which are encircled by plates of metal that hover closely, but never touch. Some even reveal characters, with their stoic rocking or graceful turns.

Still an active designer in Lindsey Adelman’s studio, Zahn’s self-motivated 16-piece collection includes several spherical lights of his own creation. Many of the works also toy with the ideas of light and reflections. 'Playing with polished surfaces, you get a liveliness just by the reflective quality of the light. They activate a room by flickering all over the ceiling. It’s a different way of making things move, without actually making things move.'

Lighting designer by day and artist by night, Karl Zahn is just the kind of double act we like to see.

Ornamental vitrines

Arranged across four large ornamental vitrines, the collection of mobiles and stabiles comprises 16 pieces

(Image credit: Press)

A new spherical light

Titled 'Rise' the new work follows on from Zahn's show at last year's NYCxDesign week. 'I wanted to clarify some of the concepts and make things clean, work well and try some different compositions and scales,' explains Zahn, who also showcased a new spherical light design pictured here

(Image credit: Zahn)

Polished brass wings

More than just beautiful objects in space, the unseen appeal of Zahn’s pieces lies in the fact that when touched, the ornamental sculptures take on a life of their own. Here, polished brass wings teeter on top of wooden teardrop forms

(Image credit: Zahn)

Made from a folded disc of brass

Made from a folded disc of brass, Zahn's 'Bounce' light for Brooklyn lighting brand Roll & Hill is included in one of the displays

(Image credit: Zahn)

The glass vitrine

Suspended in the glass vitrine, the Bounce light casts a soft warm glow reflected from a series of angled uplighters positioned below

(Image credit: Press)

The Trees and the Clouds

A larger scale variation of ‘The Trees and the Clouds’ from Zahn's show at last year's NYCxDesign week is comprised of wood pendulums and plates of metal

(Image credit: Zahn)

The metal plates

The metal plates delicately encircle the wood pendulums, hovering closely, but never touching

(Image credit: Press)

The ideas of light and reflections

Many of the works also toy with the ideas of light and reflections

(Image credit: Press)

Playing with polished surfaces

'Playing with polished surfaces, you get a liveliness just by the reflective quality of the light,' says Zahn. 'They activate a room by flickering all over the ceiling. It’s a different way of making things move, without actually making things move.'

(Image credit: Zahn)

A hammered brass

A hammered brass ellipse floats under a smooth, wafer plate of brass, exuding a jewellery-like preciousness just on a larger scale

(Image credit: Press)

Simple hanging pieces

Simple hanging pieces, such as a pair of flat wooden semi-circles, take on a noble aura thanks to the fine, near-invisible chains that connect them as they suspend in the air

(Image credit: Press)

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Pei-Ru Keh is a former US Editor at Wallpaper*. Born and raised in Singapore, she has been a New Yorker since 2013. Pei-Ru held various titles at Wallpaper* between 2007 and 2023. She reports on design, tech, art, architecture, fashion, beauty and lifestyle happenings in the United States, both in print and digitally. Pei-Ru took a key role in championing diversity and representation within Wallpaper's content pillars, actively seeking out stories that reflect a wide range of perspectives. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two children, and is currently learning how to drive.