Emergency blankets are those super-thin, reflective metalized plastic sheets that are used to trap body heat for people suffering from hypothermia.
Spanish artist SpY has reimagined them as gallery art, hanging hundreds of them in a close grid, which move in a subtle choreographed manner with music.
The subtle flowing movement and reflective gold and silver surfaces make the installation feel much more than the sum of its parts. The scale and verticality of the exhibit Blankets a zen and meditative quality, especially in the large white gallery space.
In line with some of SpY’s most celebrated projects, Blankets makes use of real-life objects as sculptural elements. The artist drastically reframes these objects –often loaded with symbolic connotations– to subvert expectations and meanings.
Blankets offers a fluid visual experience in which the artwork never looks the same. In addition to its shifting shape, the scale of the piece invites visitors to view it from contrasting perspectives, from which either the golden or silver sides of the blankets are visible.
This monumental installation is currently on view at the main hall of the Times Art Museum in Chengdu, China, as part of the exhibition: 瞬息涌现 A Momentary Spring.
