Anders Nienstaedt - Kit-Of-Parts Utopian Structure 1

Anders Nienstaedt
Kit-Of-Parts Utopian Structure 1
2026
Beech
2" x 8" x 36"

About Anders Nienstaedt:

The sculptures of Anders Nienstaedt examine the relationship between design, architecture, and the persistent allure of utopian thinking. He is interested in wood because of its broad conceptual range: it can be humble and disposable, as in a toothpick or a piece of flat-pack furniture, or monumental, symbolic, and culturally charged, as in the timber structures of temples or civic architecture. His sculptures and furniture-like objects inhabit this tension, questioning what it means for an object to be functional while resisting any singular purpose. As Nienstaedt explains, “I seek to make objects that suggest an imaginative or unpredictable activation. Often this lies in a balance between carefully rendered craft and moments of intentional space, incompleteness, or constraint.”

Dovecote, the largest work in the exhibition, consists of 37 stacked beechwood elements that appear improbably balanced, generating a sense of instability despite being structurally secure. This tension between visual precarity and physical stability encourages viewers to question their assumptions about construction and support. For the exhibition, these beechwood units have been arranged in ways that enhance a feeling of precarity while also showcasing their materiality. Utopian Structure, Tower sits atop a rocking concrete base, while Kit-of-Parts Utopian Structure 1 and 2 are double-cut like jigsaw puzzle pieces and placed on the wall. The repeated profile carved into each component forms a distinctive architectural motif. Although Nienstaedt insists that the shape carries no predetermined meaning, viewers frequently associate it with birdhouses, the arrow slits of medieval fortifications, or dovecotes. These references all suggest shelter, enclosure, and protection: spaces that sit between inside and outside, safety and exposure. Birdhouses protect their inhabitants from predators and the weather, arrow slits shield those within while allowing them to shoot outward, and dovecotes provide refuge while also serving a practical purpose.