CRATE ENCOUNTERS

CRATE ENCOUNTERS

EPHEMERAL INSTALLATION

Team:
Tiago Mesquita, Julio Dinis, Evgenina

MATERIALS

300 CRATES, ZIPTIES AND CRATE ATTACHMENTS , FOAM FOR MATRESSES, PVC SHEETS , LED STRIPS

CRATE ENCOUNTERS REIMAGINES HIDDEN QUEER SPACES THROUGH A MODULAR STRUCTURE BUILT ENTIRELY FROM PLASTIC FRUIT CRATES. THIS INSTALLATION BLURS THE BOUNDARIES BETWEEN INTIMACY AND SOCIAL INTERACTION, STRUCTURE AND FLUIDITY, PRIVACY AND REVEAL.

BY STACKING AND ARRANGING THE CRATES INTO WALLS, ALCOVES, PATHWAYS, AND BEDS, THE FOREST BECOMES A SHIFTING LABYRINTH OF CONNECTION. MUCH LIKE THE CODED LANGUAGE OF QUEER UNDERGROUND SPACES, IT MERGES SECRECY AND COMMUNITY THROUGH THE INHERENT TRANSPARENCY OF THE CRATES.

ROOTED IN THE INTERPLAY OF SHADOWS AND LIGHT, IT SEEKS TO MERGE THE RAW SENSUALITY OF DARKROOM AESTHETICS WITH ORGANIC CHAOS, CREATING EPHEMERAL SPACES WHERE BODIES, LIGHT, AND DESIRE CONVERGE.

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER?

FOR A SUSTAINABLE EXIT STRATEGY, WE PROPOSE PRACTICAL AND ECO-FRIENDLY WAYS TO DISMANTLE AND REPURPOSE THE MATERIALS. THE PLASTIC CRATES CAN BE DONATED TO COMMUNITY GARDENS OR UPCYCLING INITIATIVES, WHILE THE MATTRESSES CAN BE RESOLD FOR USE AS INSULATION MATERIAL AT CONSTRUCTION SITES.