What I do, who I am:
Developing, designing and staging ideas
«cosmicball» Thomas Schär is an artist, designer and entrepreneur
Learn more:
"cosmicball"
"cosmicball" is a creation label. If you want a so called artist name. However many think that "cosmicball" is one of my round urns, which rightfully is called "ball of love". I was born in Malaysia, on the island Borneo. And then I stayed a few years in Africa as well.
According to my passport I am Swiss. Matura in Solothurn.
Studio & workplace since 1998 in Zurich City, Switzerland.
Do you want to know more?
The name seems big - the idea behind it is simple. With "cosmicball" I want to express that my work revolves around the theme of "becoming and passing away", the circle of life, the infinity of the universe. Both can be associated with the image of a cosmic ball.
«cosmicball» Thomas Schär is an artist and designer // creative director // founder and owner of URNE.CH // A brief excerpt and overview of his work, timeline: curated exhibition presence in well-known art institutions, exhibition spaces, museums and design centres in Switzerland and abroad, Kunstszene Zürich, Museum Bellerive, Kunstzeughaus Rapperswil, Vögele Kulturzentrum, Design University Pforzheim, Hidden Luxury... // Winner of national and international design competitions // extensive portraits and background reports in major print media: Beobachter, Hochparterre, Tagesanzeiger... // appearances and TV features on Swiss television and Radio SRF, Kurt Aeschbacher, Eva Wannenmacher – Kulturplatz, 10vor10, Glanz und Gloria, Tele Basel, German television ARD and SWR... // teaching assignments at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences...
I present my works and projects under the name "cosmicball", which I devised, created, conceived, developed and realized.
According to my passport, I am Swiss. I was born in Sabah, Kudat.
Borneo is an island in South East Asia. It is located at the centre of the Malay archipelago between the continents as well as the Philippines. Borneo is devided between the three states Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. With the surface of 751.936 km² Borneo is the thrid largest island in the world, after Greenland and Neuguinea.
After Borneo I was in Cameroon, Africa. A time which shaped me very strongly. Cameroon is a country in Central Africa. It borders on Nigeria, Chad, the Republic of Central Africa, the Republic of the Congo, Gabun, Equatorial Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean.
The cinerary urn is a container, known since the Neolithic Age, which is used for the final funeral or as a storage of the ash of a deceased after the cremation. In Middle Europe the funeral in urns came up in the Late Neolithic Age (2500-2100 v. Chr.). Before that there was only the cremation and the funeral of the fire remains without any kind of urn. During the Bronze Age the funeral of the ashes in urns spread over large parts of Europe. It was and is part of death and funeral cult.
"ball of love" redefines the urn new and can be used as a symbol, secret carrier and keepsake.
You learn more if you scroll down, write me an email or schedule an appointment with me at my studio in Zurich.
Developing, designing and staging ideas
«cosmicball» Thomas Schär is an artist, designer and entrepreneur
Learn more:
"cosmicball"
Exhibition presence in well-known art institutions, exhibition spaces, museums and design centres in Switzerland and abroad // Winner of national and international design competitions
I like the simple and the permanent and I am interested in the creation of an archetype.
Studio in Zurich, City
Zentralstrasse 50
8003 Zurich
thomasschaer@cosmicball.com
Born and raised on the island of Borneo, Malaysia, and in Cameroon, Africa. Matura in 1986. Since 1996, under the pseudonym "cosmicball", responsible for the appearance of URNE.CH and for the creation and development of the urn collection. Autodidactic development in conception, design, creation, graphics, photography and staging.
Presence - work showcase: exhibitions in museums, design centres in Switzerland and abroad, Kunstszene Zürich, Museum Bellerive, Kunstzeughaus Rapperswil, Vögele Kulturzentrum, Design University Pforzheim, Hidden Luxury... // Winner of national and international design competitions // extensive portraits and background reports in major print media: Beobachter, Hochparterre, Tagesanzeiger... // appearances and TV features on Swiss television and Radio SRF, Kurt Aeschbacher, Eva Wannenmacher – Kulturplatz, 10vor10, Glanz und Gloria, Tele Basel, German television ARD and SWR... // teaching assignments at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences...
Since 1996, "cosmicball" Thomas Schär has developed, created and staged a handmade, contemporary urn collection. Each urn is conceived and created from scratch and receives its own identity, its own name and its own story...
More pictures and works by "cosmicball" Thomas Schär: www.youngart.ch / cosmicballsdiary.com / urns on a journey / my personal archive
On the occasion of the 25th anniversary, the founder, artist and company owner «cosmicball» Thomas Schär treated himself to a redesign of the previous URNE.CH logo. Over the course of a year, the new logo creation shown above was developed and first published in 2024.
Like all important works by the artist «cosmicball» Thomas Schär, the logo design is additionally deposited and protected with the IPI, the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property.
The exact meaning and background of this new symbol, showing a youth crossing a river under a protective starry sky as a symbol of cosmic infinity, can be found on the website www.urne.ch.
The “old” URNE.CH logo served us for 25 years: 1998 – 2023. We show it here once again and keep it in honorable memory!
Tuesday, 17th of May 2022 until Sunday, 18th of September 2022
Thomas Schär, also known under the artist name "cosmicball", is part of the exhibition "Death, radically normal" at the Vögele Kultur Zentrum. Here he presents his work, the result of his 25-year commitment. With his work and his commitment, Thomas Schär makes an active contribution to de-tabooing the topics of "dying, death, farewell and remembrance". His goal is to get people to deal with these fundamental aspects of life and to raise their awareness about death.
"Death, radically normal." with "cosmicball"
17.05. - 18.09.2022.
A walk through Zurich's Creative District.
This year, "cosmicball" is once again involved with Urne.ch in the Kreislauf 345 project. Visit the unique showroom of Urne.ch in Zurich's Wiedikon at Zentralstrasse 50.
A beautiful ending.
In February 2022, SRF Geschichten & Gesichter paid a visit to the studio in Zurich Wiedikon to learn more about Thomas Schär's urn collection and his life as an artist. In the report, the artist talks about his past, the conservative approach to death here in Europe, and his goal to de-taboo the topic of death.
He creates artistic vessels for the final journey.
Thomas Schär does not want to end up in a conventional urn. Learn more about his art project here.
Oct. 2021
Art until death. - "The urn is the last shell of a human being."
Thomas Schär tells us more about his life's work.
Jun. 2021
Discover Zurich's Creative District.
Ashes to Ashes. The song by David Bowie is timeless. Far from dusty is also the look & feel of Urne.ch, the unique urn studio with a showroom in Zurich that is celebrating its 20thanniversary. If one thing is fair: We all have to pass, whether poor or rich. Which is also why artist and owner of Cosmicball Collection, Thomas Schär, gives each handmade urn a new design from the ground up and with it a distinctive identity – individual requests included! Schär also promotes promising young art with youngart.ch and further projects. True to the motto: Life goes on.
An interview: Thomas Schär answers questions about dying, death and memory in his atelier URNE.CH in Zurich.
Discover Zurich's Creative District.
Ashes to Ashes. The song by David Bowie is timeless. Far from dusty is also the look & feel of Urne.ch, the unique urn studio with a showroom in Zurich that is celebrating its 20thanniversary. If one thing is fair: We all have to pass, whether poor or rich. Which is also why artist and owner of Cosmicball Collection, Thomas Schär, gives each handmade urn a new design from the ground up and with it a distinctive identity – individual requests included! Schär also promotes promising young art with youngart.ch and further projects. True to the motto: Life goes on.
Portfolio viewing with "cosmicball" Thomas Schär at the Rote Fabrik, Shedhalle Zurich. Presentation of the "cosmicball collection" idea and concept with ball of love "skull" as well as "strawberry".
At the portfolio viewing, several artists present their works and portfolios within a limited period of time in front of art enthusiasts and renowned art experts - including Aline Juchler, curator and art expert at Pro Helvetia, Sabine Rusterholz, curator and member of the Zurich Art Commission and Gianni Garzoli, President of the Swiss Association of Art Collectors.
Moderation: Salome Hohl
Art Scene 2018 with "cosmicball"
Nov. 2018
THAT ONE MOMENT
«cosmicball» Thomas Schär at Kunst(zeug)Haus Rapperswil 2018
Death and transience: this was the theme of an exhibition by IG Halle at Kunst(zeug)Haus Rapperswil in 2018. However, the focus was just as much on life and the question of how all the moments are lived before this one moment occurs. The selection of works offered the opportunity for discussion on various levels. Renowned artists, as experts in transformation, raised the question of death in an explicit or indirect way. Through their individual approach, the selected works touched on very different aspects of the theme: from the depiction of ruins and skulls to the exploration of matter to the limits of abundance and chance to visible and invisible phenomena of perception. In addition to the artistic approach, several events enabled a more in-depth examination, e.g. through encounters with people who engage in unconventional activities or deal intensively with death in their professions.
That One Moment with "cosmicball"
26.08. - 04.11.2018.
TV feature: Tele Basel on the urn collection by "cosmicball" Thomas Schär in the newly opened studio in Basel, St. Johann.
Aug. 2017
Exhibition Pforzheim 19th of May - 25th of June 2017: Urn sculpture room of silence® with urn ball of love®.
The exhibition "Luxury!? - Positions between Opulence and Asceticism" addresses historical, contemporary and future concepts of luxury. It focuses on both the material and the immaterial. The focus is on consumer goods and works of visual art that stand between the poles of "more is more" and "less is more". On display are concepts of 'Hidden Wealth', including objects by porcelain manufacturer Nymphenburg, Otto Künzli, Leica and Maison Martin Margiela. urne.ch has also been invited to the exhibition with the ball of love®, which is enveloped by the room of silence®.
"Hidden Luxury - Versteckter Luxus"
19.05. - 25.06.2017
"cosmicball" Thomas Schär on the cover
of VITAMIN G with urn ball of love® chrome
May 2017
Lecture on "Farewell and funeral culture"
An event organized by SBAP,
Swiss Association for Applied Psychology
Feb. 2017
"Fabio" is interviewd in the Urne.ch studio by Schweizer Illustrierte.
Jan. 2014
"cosmicball" in conversation with Radio Lora: listen to interview
Nov. 2013Timeline 1980 - 2010:
Presence, awards and first urn concepts
TV, radio and press report on «cosmicball» - further highlights and awards:
A guest at Kurt Aeschbacher, 10vor10 SRF and Eva Wannenmacher "Kulturplatz"
Further works and exhibition presence by "cosmicball" Thomas Schär: www.youngart.ch
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