Entwine

Blue (Bimm Bamm Boop) 2021-2023

Faux fur, sequins, polyester, memory foam, microprocessors, speakers, lights, sensors, sound, dimensions variable
Physical computing by Perrin ellis; sounds composed by Nicole Carroll

Blue (Bimm Bamm Boop) consists of three free-standing sculptures that respond to your movement and touch. Gently hug and explore these soft forms with your hands and experience the vibrations, sounds and shifting lights. These playful works are made to delight multiple senses at once.

At birth, touch is our primary and dominant sense for understanding the world; we are held tight and kept warm, wrapped in gentle soothing fabrics. Here we are reminded again of the essential role of textiles in our lives and the inherent pleasure that exploring textiles through touch can evoke. The dreamlike forest from which these works are conjured is evocative of childhood remembering of Dr Seussical creatures adored in evening wear fabrics. In a world of heightened touch taboo, they invite visitors to reconnect to the primacy of touch that was innate in us all as children.

About the Exhibition

The exhibition encapsulates the creativity, patience, and social and ethical concerns of its many makers and aims to celebrate the versatility of the textile medium. All works in the exhibition have been selected in response to the theme, ENTWINE, and curated to represent contemporary and traditional approaches to working with textiles.

Excerpt from the exhibition essay by Bree Di Mattina:
“Michelle Vine’s “Blue (Bimm Bamm Boop)” (2021), remind us of the tactile appeal of textiles … Vine reminds visitors of the importance of physical connections, her sculptures respond as if alive, reconnecting us with the essential nature of touch.”

View exhibition catalogue

Curator: Allison Mackay
Exhibition photography by Thomas Oliver (www.thomasoliver.photo)