The Art of Self-Confinement
The multidisciplinary architecture and design studio T SAKHI, whose hybrid works are often playfully subversive and provoke new modes of human interaction, unveil a virtual installation entitled “Living in Confinement” which wonders what the new normal post-Covid 19 will be.
To what extent will we physically interact with one another post-COVID-19, the pandemic that has crippled life as we knew it, question the designers behind T Sakhi and they come to the conclusion that we will need to be used to the new factual where we will learn to be in self-isolation and our interaction will mostly be confined to social media.
“One thing is certain, the form of interactions we are experiencing today is with ourselves, with our surrounding and with others through social media,” say the co-founders and sisters, Tessa & Tara Sakhi, who have addressed the ‘re-adapted’ way of life adopted this past month during the global pandemic through an installation that makes us think about the new “normal”.
“The installation is a space for rest, reading and self-reflection; moments to be mindful and present. Niches are integrated within the structure to store the essential objects of our daily life. A window is the focal element of the space, highlighted by a small stairway, to day dream, embrace our mother-nature, needless to say its healing, restorative and inspiring powers,” explain the co-founders.
The installation is entirely fabricated in compressed recycled foam, moulding the different surfaces of the floor, walls, ceiling and platforms. With its soft and flexible features, the material adapts to various body postures.
“With the pandemic unfolding, we are denied of the excess we lived in. We suddenly realize the importance of the basic needs that we long took for granted. Our lifestyle mutated, putting the spotlight on the flaws of our societies, our mass consumption, and our psychological and physiological patterns. We are constantly running after time in this modern era, today is the moment to embrace the infinite dimensions of Time and appreciate its value,” they say.
Based in Beirut, T Sakhi is a multidisciplinary architecture and design studio co-founded in 2016 by Lebanese-Polish sisters Tessa Sakhi and Tara Sakhi. The studio places human interaction at the core of their practice, and question our contemporary understandings of identity and living.
The sisters combine their duality to collaborate with creatives and craftsmen from different cultures, provoking an exchange and dialogue to reach expertise and innovation.
