FOLLOW ME / MINDCRAFT18

Milan design week 2018

Details:

Project: 2018 "FOLLOW ME" MINDCRAFT18. Milano Design Week, 2019/2018 GLASS ROPES . Restrain&Release. Japan/Denmark | City: Milan | Venue: Milano Design Week 2018, Mindcraft18

2018 I was selected by curator Ditte Hammerstrøm for MINDCRAFT18 among 15 great danish artist/designers MINDCRAFT is an exhibition concept showcasing some of Denmark's most talented craftspeople and designers. The curated exhibitions demonstrate the qualities, potentials and versatility of new Danish craft and design. The MINDCRAFT exhibitions are organized by the Danish Arts Foundation It is on display during Milano Design Week. The chosen focus of MINDCRAFT18 is on the essence of the work with design and craft. In ‘Follow Me’, Koshenkova turns the pliable and sturdy material of rope into hard, transparent, breakable glass. Conceptually, she sets out to explore and convey phenomena that contain a similar inner tension and paradox, such as life and death, freedom and control. A rope may spark associations to death, for example the hangman’s rope, but it can also be a lifeline or the safe escape from a burning building. A specific source of inspiration is the traditional Japanese sexual bondage practice Shibari, where rope represents the paradoxical notion of seeking freedom and release through trust, submission and restraint. Maria Koshenkova invites the viewer to walk alongside the object – to follow it. Not the way we follow something on Instagram, Facebook or other social media, but physically, in real life. The ‘cire perdue’ technique itself emphasizes the real-life, human touch by not creating a perfect replica but adding a degree of imprecision. Glass sculpture made using the classic technique ‘cire perdue’, lost-wax casting. In a complex process involving multiple castings. Address: San Simpliciano, Piazza Paolo VI 6, 20121 Milan Materials Glass Dimensions Each object Approx. L 100 x T 20 x W 45 cm . composed together 400 cm X 100 cm x 200 cm

Rope of glass, which is a kind of a material impossibility. Inspired by the Japanese bondage practice Shibari - amalgamating control and submission. The work is influenced by Jomon culture as well. Ropes bear controversial meanings (i.e. violence and safety). I want to investigate the concept of freedom and the conflict between extreme materialism and fragility which glass represents. Technically I sculpted from real rope and burned it out to fill the mold with glass. "Follow Me" started as a part of the installation I created for Mindcraft18 -Danish exhibition during Milano Design Week. Work was shown in South Korea "Crafted Matter "at Cheongju Craft Biennale and Kunsthal Charlottenborg "The Charlottenborg Spring Exhibition 2020" Photo Credit: Kurt Rodahl Hoppe created at VAK. Denmark