BIO
Middernacht & Alexander transform forgotten matter into meaningful objects.
What once lay buried—contaminated, discarded, ignored—is brought to light and given a second life.
Their ongoing series, How I Got Over, centres around the poetic reinvention of old underground oil tanks, turning them into sculptural furniture pieces that carry both weight and memory.
Sofie Middernacht (BE) and Maarten Alexander (NL) form a renowned artistic duo driven by a deep interest in the psychological layers of everyday life. Their work often engages with discomfort—material, emotional, existential. Perception, time, preservation, and the human condition are recurring themes that anchor their practice.
What others overlook or abandon, they approach with care and reverence. Rusted metal, traces of tar, and the soil still clinging to the surface are carefully preserved under layers of epoxy, becoming part of the object’s visual and emotional depth. Most pieces are both functional and symbolic: a table, a sculpture, a relic.
Their design practice balances material intuition with conceptual depth, moving between craftsmanship and reflection. No two pieces are the same—each holds its own texture, its own story, its own soul. What emerges is more than design: it is a dialogue with the ground we stand on, a meditation on time, decay, and transformation.
Middernacht & Alexander create a universe carved from what others forgot.
Pictures by Sander Houthuys