In the mountains surrounding the Taipei suburb of Waishuangxi (外雙溪), an otherworldly exhibition is being shown in a rather peculiar space. Ornate tapestries in intricate colors and psychedelic designs that depict surreal creatures hang from a ceiling that is sheathed, like the entire structure, in black agricultural netting.
The textiles form part of Hypnopompic, an exhibition by Finnish contemporary artist and designer Kustaa Saksi. The solo show is taking place at Siu Siu — Lab of Primitive Senses (少少 — 原始感覺研究室), an architectural creation by Divooe Zein Architects (自然洋行建築事務所), which won top honor at the ADA Awards for Emerging Architects (ADA新銳建築獎) last year.
HALF AWAKE, HALF ASLEEP
Photo courtesy of Kustaa Saksi, Double Grass and Divooe Zein Architects
Saksi’s trippy textiles are inspired by what is known as the hypnopompic state — a state of consciousness between waking and sleeping when one experiences visual delusions and strange visions that can take the form of spiders, grasshoppers and other insects, as well as monkeys and apes.
It is a condition that Saksi has some familiarity with.
“Someone in my family suffers from these delusions. I find what she see’s in her dreams fascinating, and wanted to make a collection of tapestries using the dreams as inspiration,” the artist told the Taipei Times at the exhibition last Saturday.
Photo courtesy of Kustaa Saksi, Double Grass and Divooe Zein Architects
FROM GRAPHIC DESIGN TO TEXTILE
Professionally trained as a graphic designer, Saksi’s works range from installations to commercial projects with international brands such as Lacoste, Levi’s, Marimekko and Nike. He began dabbling in textile art over a decade ago, after he visited the Textiel Museum in Tilburg, Netherlands. Saksi says the museum has a long history of tapestry-making and is equipped with a laboratory where artists are free to experiment.
While employing the traditional jacquard weaving technique invented in the 19th century, the entire process of Saksi’s textile-making is computer-controlled, allowing for considerable precision and detail.
Photo courtesy of Kustaa Saksi, Double Grass and Divooe Zein Architects
The artist also experiments and mixes different materials. His large-scale textiles always dazzle with elaborate contrasts between natural materials — mohair, alpaca wool, cotton and linen — and synthetic fibers made of nylon and rubber, as well as metal and phosphoric yarns.
In Nightless Night, for example, Saksi covers mohair and alpaca with white rubber, while Scorpio is made of glow-in-the-dark fibers, enabling the tapestry to “move and breathe” in between light and dark.
Saksi says that he’s intrigued by the “three-dimensionality” of textiles.
Photo courtesy of Kustaa Saksi, Double Grass and Divooe Zein Architects
“When it comes out of the weaving machine, you can actually touch it, turn it around and feel it. It completely changes [the graphic design]… Sometimes, you find this really nice combination just by pure luck,” says Saksi, who is currently based in Amsterdam.
SCANDINAVIAN NATURE
Visual illusions aside, the Finnish artist’s tapestries with their peculiar animals, plants and landscapes, conjure up a feeling of the supernatural. Saksi attributes this magical ambiance to his childhood memories of skiing on the frozen sea from islet to islet and watching the northern lights.
“There is something really mythical about [the northern lights]. That kind of experience has really stayed in my mind,” the 40-year-old artist says.
“We [The Finnish] are a little bit like forest people. We haven’t been living in the city that long, really. I think we are always a bit lost when we are in big cities,” he adds.
Scandinavian mythology and folklore also inform Saksi’s textile art.
Universal Egg draws inspiration from the Finnish epic poem Kalevala, in which the world is created from the fragments of an egg.
“[Scandinavian folktales and myths] are always based on nature themes. Everything happens in a forest,” Saksi says.
SIU SIU, INSIDE AND OUT
The exhibition, which also includes some prints, is Saksi’s first in Asia, and the artist is excited about the venue that’s showing his work.
“Normally I show my works in a gallery space with white walls. It can be boring — especially after this, in the middle of nature. I think the works fit perfectly here,” he says.
Indeed, there is probably no other place in Taipei better suited to introduce Saksi’s art. Designed to explore ways to strike a balance between urban living and nature, it’s built around a woodland glade. The use of agricultural shade nets as a primary building material effectively blurs the boundary between indoor and outdoor, the living space and nature.
“We live in a well-protected, safe environment in cities, with all those sealed windows, concrete and steel. At the same time, our five senses are dulled and closed,’” says Lin Fan-yu (林凡榆), an architect with Divooe Zein Architects.
Launched last winter, Siu Siu is envisioned as a lab open to different possibilities, where all kinds of events, happenings and collaborations can occur, Lin says.
Opened last week, the exhibition runs through Sunday from 11am to 7pm. Apart from the psychedelic tapestries, a group of musicians, including sound artist Chen Pei Yuan (陳沛元), French musician Arnaud Lechat and Russian DJ Yura, will gather at Siu Siu to deliver their sonic renditions of the hypnopompic state of consciousness tomorrow from 7pm to 9pm. Tickets for the musical performance are NT$400, available online through the exhibition organizer Double Grass’ (草字頭) Web site at double-grass.com.
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