anamnesis

collaborated with Alvaro Aramburu and Rob Curran, 2018

Birch, LED lights

As a result of a collaboration with Kobe Design University, HDK-Steneby has been invited to exhibit at Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum in Kobe in autumn 2018. Alvaro Araburu, Robert Curran, and me were linked to collaborate this project according to the theme “ Memory and Sensory.“ Through mutual experiences in dealing with the evanescence of memory within a family stronghold, these pieces we aim to express the impotence of losing something that defines us, yet to evoke empathy or understanding of the ephemeral or unstable. When a name is forgotten, when nuances fade, the distinguishing features of a life are boxed away in the recesses of the mind, at times perceivable yet often unreachable. These vessels try to capture moments of enlightenment, lapses in memory and sequences in the mind that are beyond our comprehension.

The composition consists of three rectangular vessels hanging at eye-level. Although geometrically contained, they have split open, describing a unique breaking path. These cracks, emanating from within are emphasised and raised above the surface. They distort the formal perfection of the boxes and act as a threshold into their hidden interiors. Through extreme darkness or brightness, they mean to act as triggers for memories, confined in a space that must be interpreted rather than directly processed. This scape route from the inside symbolises an evaporation of thoughts and lived experiences, while the uniquely fragmented exterior highlights a beauty that can only be perceived in such circumstances.