Vibrantly Abstract: Machines From Nowhere

What Happens When Machines Become Objects of Wonder

There’s a particular joy in objects that feel like they were dreamed up rather than designed. The 3D digital works of Chinese artists Gao Yang and Kisame (Yu-Lei Wang) live squarely in that territory.

Created for the WOW Design Competition, their series imagines a collection of fantastical machines that don’t quite exist anywhere, but feel like they should.

Each piece pulls from a different corner of material culture: the satisfying density of vintage electronics, the primary-color confidence of a well-loved toy, the tactile complexity of something built by hand over many years.

Dials, cables, vents, ports, and panels accumulate into objects that reward a long look. The color work alone is worth the visit.

What makes the series linger is how freely it borrows. Soviet synthesizer, Nerf gun, boombox, scientific instrument.

These things are in conversation with each other, collapsed into single forms that feel both nostalgic and completely invented.

There’s humor in them too, the quiet kind that comes from things being slightly more elaborate than they need to be.

See more from Gao Yang and Kisame on their portfolios, and the full series via Behance.