Situ Studio: Folk Couture

Responding to the diverse content of the show, Situ developed a series of custom pedestals specifically crafted for each garment or object it holds.

The pedestals, which appear to defy both materiality and gravity, are designed to actively frame and support the rich dialogue between the objects and ensembles on display.

Inspired by the draping of a dress form, Situ chose to work with concrete impregnated fabric because, as Partner Aleksey Lukyanov-Cherny states, “it provided an opportunity to explore the properties of this unique material in both its fluid and solid states, and it allowed us to work with a flexible system that could be customized to respond to different objects while providing a tactile and visual continuity to the show.”

The process of constructing the pedestals involved building a series of simple armatures from which the concrete canvas was suspended upside-down and saturated with water. Once cured, the result is a series of light-weight, structurally sufficient, modified-catenary forms that appear to float and billow upwards, grounded only by the weight of the objects they support.

From January 21 until April 23, 2014
Folk Couture: Fashion and Folk Art
American Folk Art Museum
2 Lincoln Square
Columbus Avenue at 66th Street
New York, NY
Display system: Situ Studio