Tropos | New frame by Mentze Ottenstein | Cassetta
Tropos is a new frame profile designed by Mentze Ottenstein in collaboration with Cassetta, exclusively for original prints by BORCH Editions. As a mediator between the print on paper and its surroundings, Tropos is a piece of design that participates in the experience of the artwork.
Cassetta creates handcrafted frames in collaboration with architects, designers, and artists, approaching framing as both a spatial and tactile discipline. Rather than treating the frame as a neutral boundary around an artwork, Cassetta considers it an integral part of how a work is encountered — shaping its relationship to the wall, the surrounding space, and the materials from which it is made.
For Tropos, Cassetta invited architectural studio Mentze Ottenstein to develop a frame profile in response to the particular qualities of prints. The architects Mathias Mentze and Alexander Ottenstein were interested in the geometry of a single profile that allows for considerable shifts in width and depth. The resulting profile can be assembled in three different ways, transforming into three very different frames: Slim, Deep, and Wide.
When the profile is turned, a different aspect of its geometry comes forward, and with each orientation, it offers variations in width and depth. Slim and Deep have the same overall width, but as the profile is turned through 180 degrees, the inner rim becomes an outer edge, and the space between the glass and the artwork becomes twice as deep. In the Wide version, the profile is laid flat, creating a broader frame, with a greater surface of the wood revealing its colour and grain. Whether upright or laid flat, a small rim at the front provides a recognisable detail. The design offers several distinct expressions, responding to the print it frames. This flexibility reflects the diversity of works published by BORCH Editions, where differences in scale, paper, colour, surface, and printing technique can call for different modes of presentation. Tropos is designed to accommodate these variations while maintaining a clear and consistent architectural language.
The presentation in BORCH Editions’ showroom at Holbergsgade 16, Copenhagen, places the frame itself at the centre, bringing together works by Tacita Dean, Emma Kohlmann, Ann Lislegaard, Tal R, Matt Saunders, Superflex, and others. Shown alongside one another, the works demonstrate how the three orientations of Tropos can subtly alter the relationship between image, paper, frame, and space.
