Cumulus

2016

Cumulus is an inflatable installation assembled from three hundred re-used polythene grocery bags.

The use of discarded material questions the lifespan of man-made objects and structures. The ephemeral and dynamic nature of the installation places the space in the sphere of performance, as a piece of urban acupuncture. It’s material language is born from the context of the city: the overlay of soft forms over the rational structure echoes the city Grid’s attempt to conquer the hills of San Francisco, where it was crafted.

From the exterior, the ethereal accumulation of inflated cells leaves a faint trace of the piece’s triangulated geometry, incarnated by lines of black tape. When the membrane is brought to life by a flow of air, it delineates a soft, interior landscape from the outside world, sheltering it’s inhabitant whilst filtering out the context through a micron-thin veil of translucent plastic. From within, the black tessellations take the foreground, structuring the space and revealing the depth of the buffer between the intimate sphere and the public realm.

Cumulus explores the fuzzy edges, the ambiguous interstices, and the fragility of shelter.

It was shown as part of Activate : Space at Loczi Design in San Francisco in 2016, and as part of IMAGINATIONS at the Palais de Tokyo in 2022.