Terra Atlas excavates memory and matter at Objects With Narratives, Brussels

Beneath the polished surface of contemporary design lies a quieter, more primal language, one spoken through rust, residue and the passage of time. Terra Atlas, the latest design exhibition by Belgian duo Middernacht & Alexander, on view from June 5, 2025, at Objects With Narratives in Brussels, Belgium, delves into this language with sensitivity. Known for exploring the uneasy intersection of intimacy and voyeurism, Middernacht & Alexander approach design less as a discipline of utility than as a psychological inquiry. Their work draws attention to overlooked or uncomfortable aspects of the human experience: perception, time, preservation and loss. In Terra Atlas, these themes materialise through the use of discarded, often contaminated materials: corroded oil tanks, forgotten metal fragments, tar and soil.

Their materials are chosen for their instability—substances that oxidise, tarnish, corrode or decompose when exposed to time and air. Rather than masking this decay, the duo works with it, suspending these raw remnants in layers of epoxy resin. The process is one of both preservation and distortion. The result is a series of sculptural designs, functional objects, table designs, seats and wall works that exist somewhere between ruin and relic. Rather than concealing imperfection, the designers preserve it. The epoxy does not sanitise the materials—it holds them in a kind of suspended decay.

Rich in texture and tactility, furniture designs such as the Arsenic Fog Dining Table, Oxblood Waltz collection and the Cherry Mulholland Desk and Chair reveal oxidised steel sealed in deep maroon resin and smoky greys, while the Porcelain Dawn dining table and the Romance Stool explore colour as emotional terrain, layering rusted cores with delicate, near-translucent shades. The porcelain table is also complemented by the Green Wallpiece in resin. These palettes, paired with glossy surfaces, expose the tension between fragility and preservation.

Among the standout pieces, the Nocturne Shell Chair and Nocturne Shell Room Divider introduce a sculptural elegance. Formed from oxidised steel softened under layers of cool, translucent epoxy, these furniture designs feature curved silhouettes that recall organic shells or geological fragments smoothed by time. Together, they bring a lyrical counterpoint to the exhibition's otherwise grounded, heavy forms.

This method reflects the Belgian designers' broader practice, which often centres on materials with fleeting, unstable properties. Terra Atlas is part of their ongoing project, How I Got Over, a long-form investigation into memory, material culture and sustainability. This approach resists the hyper-polished surfaces of contemporary design in favour of something more human, more vulnerable. Each piece in the show becomes a vessel for care. In reclaiming the discarded and making it resonate, Middernacht & Alexander invite viewers to reconsider value, not as a market term, but as a measure of emotional and historical weight; to perceive the invisible histories embedded in matter.