True Matter
Dutch Invertuals Academy is centered around the theme of True Matter, an expression of the global shift from a careless to a caring attitude.
We are moving away from a careless, money-driven time of ‘hunting’ towards a time of ‘caring’ with attention focused on our (local) environment.
True Matter challenges you to work with raw materials from your local context. Play with your surroundings, not only in terms of resources but also in terms of techniques, craftsmanship, and traditions. You will collect, build, redefine, combine, and experiment. True Matter sheds a light on our local identities and gives us insight into what truly matters.
source: Dutch Invertuals Academy
Digital exhibiyion True Matter, digital exhibition by Dutch Invertuals Academy
Creating Sensations
Creating Sensations is focused on the connection between the body and nature. When we touch the skin we activate areas of the brain associated with memory and pleasure.
This project explores the ways in which we can use the natural environment to activate senses and generate feelings of wellbeing. The designer has looked closely at how natural matter can be further used to deepen this beneficial connection, designing a collection of stimulating tools made from locally gathered natural matter.
The proximity of nature is a widely accepted benefit to human wellbeing. This was something experienced personally by designer Irina Diana Flore after she moved to the green spaces of Oregon, USA. A desire to further understand the connection between her immediate environment and wellbeing was the starting point for the Creating Sensations project.
Irina has explored the sensation of touch, gathering natural materials from the landscape around her and turning these into handheld tools. Each tool utilizes a different texture and is intended to be used with a different gesture.
Close attention has been paid to how the tools may be held, their experience on the skin, and the sensations they may illicit: “The shapes and materials have been chosen intentionally; each tool creates a different touch. When we scratch the skin, we activate areas of the brain associated with memory and pleasure.”
Dried materials were chosen because they proved efficient to gather. They also became symbolic of the fragility of the local environment - it is dried material such as grasses and pinecones that are especially susceptible to destructive seasonal wild-fires in the Oregon region. Finally, the tools’ clay handles are covered in a layer of sand, also from the local region.
A green environment, even in the city, feels like an invitation to contemplate and enjoy nature. We all know the feeling of grass tickling our feet, but maybe we no longer enjoy this sensation as often as we could - I hope that these objects are an invitation to get closer to nature.
Hybrid Scultpure
Creating experiences and sensations from intriguing and ordinary elements can bring us pleasure, curiosity and joy.
Irina Diana Flore was inspired by the mixed locality of Portland, Oregon, US, to design her collection of Hybrid Sculptures. Her work reflects the unfamiliar identity of her surroundings with the goal of creating fun interactions that focus on the senses.
I wanted to isolate and concentrate one's attention on simple actions, and to have a bit of fun with wellbeing or stress release methods that are not so common.
When Irina moved to Portland, she became intrigued by its wilderness but also by its cultural clashes: ‘Keep Portland Weird’ is the slogan of the city. By exploring her local environment, she found many natural and artificial elements.
‘When I first joined the program, I started to pay attention to my surroundings and question my locality more than before. I liked that I got to take a step back and observe things that matter in my life and do experimental work that brought me joy.
With her collection of sculptures, Irina aims to awaken curiosity and enhance the senses, to invite people to question everyday objects and their functions. The hybrid sculptures are made from a mix of elements and forms that have different purposes. For example, a yoga brick is made from a soft foam that can be used for many other purposes than the one it is designed for.
I like to question the objects we are surrounded by and why we use them in specific ways. Sometimes I like to repurpose things and give them a different meaning from the one they were created for.
The work results from Irina’s research into wellbeing, fun interactions, intriguing forms and functions. Weird or intriguing at first sight, these sculptures are imagined as multi-sensory and wellbeing experiences. In order to understand the sculptures, we need to interact with them and discover their function. We could feel surprised by the objects, and/or comforted.