Júlíana Sól Sigurbjörnsdóttir

Designing a single space for an artist to live and work in, while also having it temporary can create some challenges. My client is a female artist who collects sea shells and uses their form and texture as a source of inspiration. She prefers minimal space and keeping her work and living area separate. My starting point with the design was to explore the sea shells and how she interacts with with her collection. I wanted to be able to divide the room, but also allowing her to adjust the movement of the furniture easily. I researched different types of sea shells, and I was especially inspired by the shape of the nautilus shell and used that form to create sketches for a wall. At first the wall was too rigid and didn’t have the correct flow to it. While it was functional, it didn’t move enough with the room and relation with other pieces in the room.

Playing with the Fibonacci circle, I was able to create a wall that could spiral into a sofa space, and be removed and moved along the wall from the living space into the artist studio. The sofa space then serves as a place to relax after work, but once moved, it is a place for contemplation in the studio. I was happy with the result but I would very much like to extend the design of the wall. Factoring in the bed and work desk. Maybe they can be connected to the wall and continue with the idea of the Fibonacci circle.

Richard Serra is known for his large scale artworks, so I thought it was interesting to see how he works in his studio. He’s creating small scaled models, and his studio is a mess in contrast with his art work. I think it’s a good example of how his mind works. He needs to explore and he needs space, as he works with different venues, material and interaction with the public. Although my client prefers a clean space I think there is some organised chaos in this studio..

Seidner, D. (1999) Artists’ Studios. Paris: Assouline.

This image is from the an exhibition from designer Rei Kawakubo. The fact that she is creating space with in space is something that I find really inspiring for my project. She’s elevating some of the mannequins and creating a little house or space for each collection, but still keeping some sort of a thread between them.

Frame (2017) Finding Rei Kawakubo In-Between Emptiness and Space. Available at: https://www.frameweb.com/article/event/finding-rei-kawakubo-in-between-emptiness-and-space

I’ve been thinking a lot about the fact that a “WC” needs to be incorporated in the room, although we don’t have to design it (yet). I saw this image in a Charlotte Perriand book, and thought that it was a pretty good idea if you have a small space. It reminds me of the Copenhagen bathrooms, that are so tiny you almost have to sit on the toilet to take a shower. Not ideal, but I think this at least looks nice.

Barsac, J. (2017) Charlotte Perriand : complete works. Volume 3, 1956-1638. Zurich : Scheidegger and Spiess.

It was my first time visiting Tate Britain, so this exhibition was especially interesting. Cornelia Parker is a diverse artist who uses many different methods and mediums to create her work. The first installation as you walk in is the very powerful “Thirty Pieces of Silver”. Visually I was very drawn to this installation, the reflective light of the silver and the feeling of weightlessness of the silverware. Creating the lost volume of the crushed plates with simply empty space and shadow.

I was especially intrigued by her abstract methods, by taking something out of everyday life and history and giving it a new meaning. She takes mundane and dead things such as napkins and gives them a complete new life by using them to polish silver from famous people in history, such as Stolen Thunder Tarnish from Charles I’s Spurs 1998 that I stumbled upon on my walk around the museum after looking at the exhibition. To see the napkin next to a painting of Charles I gave the napkin a whole new meaning. But looking at it with out knowing you feel like you are looking at a beautiful abstract pencil drawing. 

The fact the she uses collaboration so much in her Politics section was fascinating because politics can mean so many different things to people. The chalk drawings done by school children picking out headlines of what they were interested was a great representation of how the media feeds us with catchy headlines that can even look exciting in children’s eyes. The Magna Carta (An Embroidery) Is also an example of who people view politics and freedom in different ways, depending on their status in society. 

The exhibition also helped me understand collecting and art in the same context and how you can use mundane things to create impactful moments. 

When we had the task to create a wearable mask from an architectural space that had given us a “wow” moment, the first building that came to mind was the The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. I distinctly remember going there for the first time in 2009 for a school trip. What fascinated me about the the museum was that the building itself was just as interesting as the art on display in the museum. Every curve and corner evoked curiosity and emotion in me. I visited again in 2022 and spent some time observing the building from the outside. I really liked the texture of the building, the smooth limestone feel against the old concrete buildings around.

In creating my wearable mask I wanted to capture both the organic form and texture of the building. I started with sketching how I envisioned the wearable, and how I could make the structure work. I bought paint, wood and paper and started to experiment first with the right colour and texture of the mask. I was not happy at first with the texture but finally settled on a perfect white colour with a tint of taupe in it, and started cutting the paper into the right form. Initially I was going to have each floor cut on its own but quickly realised that I was missing the organic and flowing form of the building. I proceeded with gluing the paper together to make a long stretch of paper and then wrapping it around the wooden sticks to get the organic shape. I struggled with the “top floor” as I wanted it to overlap a bit as it does in real life, but managed to glue it so it was a bit bigger. The result was structurally sound and allowed me to see my peers when presenting myself with the little space between the floors.

• Image 1: Sigurbjornsdottir, J. (2022). Guggenheim Museum [Photograph].
• Image 2: Sigurbjornsdottir, J. (2022). Guggenheim Museum [Photograph].
• Image 3: Sigurbjornsdottir, J. (2022). Sketching Process [Drawing].
• Image 4: Sigurbjornsdottir, J. (2022). Close up of texture [Photograph].
• Image 5: Sigurbjornsdottir, J. (2022). Guggenheim Museum [Photograph].