ML15 Helios
ML15 Helios
The M.A.D.Gallery celebrates the 15th anniversary of its innovative retail concept with a new artwork by artist Frank Buchwald, kicking off a year of festivities.
Named the ML15 Helios – limited to just 15 pieces – the light revolves around the idea of a mechanical sun that is powerful, calm, and precise. Its starting point was the notion of a techno-biological object, something essential and autonomous. The three-legged construction with its electrical lighting elements combines the austerity of a technical device with a sculptural quality. It stands as a hybrid of machine, sculpture, and light.
ML15 Helios is limited to just 15 handcrafted pieces and is a M.A.D.Gallery exclusivity.
Lead time 10 weeks.
More than an object
The central element of ML15 Helios is a spherical lamp surrounded by a ring of light, reminiscent of a solar corona. A bracket structure holds two transparent blue rings that transform the sphere into something between an eye and a measuring instrument. It appears as an object that observes, scans, and recognizes, while still retaining a distinctly solar presence.
“Many people perceive these objects as autonomous beings, strange yet somehow familiar. I appreciate that reaction,” notes Buchwald. “My intention is always to reveal the inner core of a machine, its essence. Perhaps this is what surprises viewers most, the sense that a purely mechanical object can possess something like an inner truth.”
Specifications
Like all of Frank Buchwald’s creations, Helios is entirely handcrafted; even the laser-cut elements are manually reworked and refined.
Each piece takes several weeks to complete.
Stainless steel with brass elements
Electrical wiring with flexible stainless steel tubes
9kg
Width: 350mm x Height: 440mm – Depth: 460mm
Globe bulb, 120mm diameter, with dimmable LED ring
Silver textile cable
Two blue diffuser rings, a blue illuminated switch, and a head section adjustable 45° to the right and 45° to the left (total 90°).
15th Anniversary
2026 marks the 15th anniversary of the M.A.D.Gallery, an adventure which started in Geneva and has since spread to Dubai – but also in a more compact form, dubbed “MB&F Labs”, in Taipei, Singapore, Paris, Beverly Hills and Menlo Park (Silicon Valley).
To celebrate this milestone, the M.A.D.Gallery has invited several of its mechanical artists to create special limited editions for its 15th anniversary. Leading the festivities is Berlin-based German artist and designer Frank Buchwald, one of the gallery’s earliest contributors.
Frank Buchwald
Frank Buchwald believes that a common mistake of our time is the belief that machines are solely products and artifacts of human planning, design, and manufacture.
Working on the machine lights was for him a guarantor and a constantly new examination of something hidden that interweaves and shapes the sphere of the machine like a secret principle.
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