Pupa
The pavilion in i spökparken, Drottninggatan 116b, Vasastan, Stockholm
2024
Arranged by SEART thanks to the support from No Picnic Design Studio
www.seart.com
Pupa
Pupa; The transformative developmental stage in the life of insects that is preceded by a well-fed larva. It forms a hard shell around its body to initiate the next step in its life cycle. Inside the protective casing, the larva dissolves into an indistinguishable sludge. Cells, joints, and organs shift position in a slowly choreographed restructuring of the entire creature's composition. Antennae find new positions, a pair of wings emerge, and three pairs of agile legs prepare the insect for life outside its temporary encapsulation. Finally, a new body emerges from the pupa and the newly formed limbs are allowed to dry in the wind before the creature's newfound mobility is tested.
In this exhibition, an art installation is presented, similar in concept to an insect larva entering a new transformative stage. The piece is a modular and site-specific sculpture that is reconfigured for each exhibition it participates in. Like a kind of pupation, the work has settled inside the pavilion, awaiting its next transformation.
Just like art for art's sake, I explore construction for the sake of construction. I design components, parts, and technical solutions where the purpose and goal is the act of construction itself. The structures are reversible and open to change. They are sculptures that form in dialogue with the space.
In the exhibition "Pupa" I present a variant of a sculpture i have made with profiles that I have designed cut out of paper. The profiles are bent and joined together mechanically. That is, without glue or other materials. The project draws inspiration from East Asian paper crafts and can be described as a modular form of origami (folded paper) and kirigami (cut paper).
Together, these paper components form a network of rods, joints, connections, legs, ribs, and meeting points that build up a structure frozen in an ongoing transformation. When the exhibition is over and the work is dismantled, new configurations of the piece emerge, and a new stage in the artwork’s life cycle begins.