As part of ‘Experimental Form’, a joint course within the Estonian Academy of Arts’, Fashion, Accessory, and Textile Design programme, an exhibition of garment sculptures was created for the ninth year, with the spatial design process involving young interior architects for the first time. The materials used in these exhibitions have previously involved repurposing industrial waste, thus saving it from becoming garbage.
This time, the authors were asked to deconstruct curtains and create a new identity for them. The initial materials included metal horizontal blinds, blackout pleated curtains, and roller-blind fabrics that were left over from the factories of the local companies Sunorek and Avaeksperd. In addition to creative vision and a substantial amount of material, the process also involved a tremendous amount of work – for example, the piece ‘Dance on Razor Blades’ consumed 150 metres of metal blind strips and 419 screws, while ‘Dardin’ required 12 hours of work solely for sanding the material.
The exhibition design and the installation was done by 2nd year BA students of interior architecture supervised by Annika Kaldoja and Harold Kiisler.
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We stand at the threshold of an era where the organic and the natural are becoming estranged from the ideals of our time. Increasingly, we find allure in stability and durability, prompting designers, as creative alchemists, to experiment with the essence of life, to create around themselves a ‘preserved’ world – grass that is as green as in days of yore, a sky as clear as water, beauty that remains eternal even as time passes. But what should be done with the ‘old world’ debris that has been ploughed up for the sake of human-derived ideals? A choice must be made – whether to simply swim through it or to acknowledge the situation and find the magic in things past their prime.
It is time for new beginnings, time for cardinal changes! Breathing new life into discarded curtain scraps, young artists brought to life 17 experimental organisms. Some began to crawl, some developed roots, some acquired a metallic shell, but most importantly, each form tells a fundamentally different story.
The exhibition ‘Curtain Creatures’ invites visitors to experience a world where artificial ‘organisms’ reflect the dissonance of our consumer society and inspire deeper contemplation on giving new life to old materials and objects around us.
*The Estonian headline ‘Kardinaalne’ is a play on words, based on the word kardin, meaning curtain in translation.
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Artists: Helina Raud, Jürgen Sinnep, Hanna E. Lahe, Angela Aavik, Meeli Kombe, Anjali Venkatasubramanian, Eleonor Tingas, Pauline Ööpik, Morgan Kinna, Karmel Kibena, Lilli Ann Linno, Anna Maria Teras, Hannabel Kaal, Ringo Roots, Rose-Marie Riitsalu, Vivian Vuks, Epp Vislapuu
Interior architects:Linda Marie Zimmer, Emily Marin, Simona Aleksandra Porta, Marcus Kask, Susann Vahe, Anni Kärmik, Caitlyn Kesa, Arnold Zagurski, Villem Reimann, Kairi Mändla, Christine Rõõm, Nelelis Tasa
Supervisors of the works: Liisi Eesmaa, Flo Kasearu
Supervisors of the spatial design: Annika Kaldoja, Harold Kiisler, Gregor Taul
Graphic design: Pille-Riin Valk, Markus Laanisto
Artistic director of photography: Liisi Eesmaa
Photographer: Riina Varol
MUAH: Mammu
Models: Lola Terra (Agency Icon), Äli Enrietta (E.M.A. Model Management)
Supporters: VIRU, EKA, KIU, SUNOREK, AVAEKSPERDID, FAZER, MULL DRINKS, CAPAROL, LEVIER
