Studio Paperform joined creative spheres with legendary Danish textile leaders Kvadrat for Kvadrat Knit!. Knit! is the fourth edition of Kvadrat’s Design Projects – this formation showcasing the bold creativity of 28 international designers, devising a forum for modern makers to explore their ideas with a global audience. Side by side with guru Adam Goodrum, this is the first time Australian designers have been asked to take part.
Originally intended for the 2020 Milano Salone del Mobile , health restrictions eventually created a unique set of circumstances. Each piece from the Kvadrat Knit! exhibition was initially presented at Kvadrat headquarters in Ebeltoft, Denmark, and then debuted at 3daysofdesign in Copenhagen.
Brief: Alongside a host of the world’s creative community, interpret the knitted textile collection by Kvadrat Febrik and in the process, inspire humans to engage with Kvadrat fabrics in new, unexpected and surprising ways.
Story: Our response to this exciting brief – InterPersona – a dynamic piece encouraging people to interact with cloth on a personal level. Shifting feelings and abstracted emotions are played out across a moving assembly of oversized sculptural forms that playfully interlock into a conversation with Kvadrat fabric’s colour and texture. We hope observers to be drawn into a curious dialogue with InterPersona, inciting amusement and engendering a tactile bond between human and object.
From Kvadrat:
‘Benja Harney’s InterPersona becomes a living cartoon – an installation rife with whimsy and character, and which embodies its creator’s belief in design as an essentially expressive, emotive medium.’
Working in collab with talented Sydney-based pattern maker and upholsterer Mitch Wright, large-scale reinforced foam core shapes were given bespoke tailored Kvadrat slipcovers. Padded lips and eyes velco onto the base forms in an array of combinations to create a cultural sensory experiment.
To generate a vibrant interplay, we made use of the full range of colours and textures afforded by Kvadrat Febrik’s textiles choosing samples from the Apparel, Sprinkles, Razzle Dazzle, Mosaic 2 , Drop and Triangle collections.
As always at Studio Paperform, we love the challenge of incorporating different materials into our artistic repertoire. Working with fabric for the first time in this way (and at such scale!) was a fantastic learning curve to be involved in.
Throughout 2021, Kvadrat Knit! is on a world tour, being exhibited in major design hubs across the globe. In May 2021, the roving presentation landed for the Australian leg with the opening hosted by Kvadrat Maharam in their Sydney showroom before continuing on to Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.
