Kvadrat Acoustics has helped to stage a tapestry installation – Others Will Know by Miriam Bäckströmat – at the Buffalo AKG Museum in upstate New York. The piece merges textiles and photography and is part of a year-long celebration of newly commissioned works following the museum's 2023 opening.
Wrapping around the lower lobby of the museum’s OMA-designed Jeffrey E Gundlach Building, the 36.6m installation transforms the space and enhances acoustic quality.
Swedish artist Bäckströmat creates three-dimensional experiences from two-dimensional images. Here, her process began with the choice of a colourful fabric that was originally designed for bathing suits, with a pattern reminiscent of lighthouse tower lenses. She then used 3D technology and virtual reality to transform a textile swatch into a photographic curvilinear sculpture.
With the help of a team of weavers and the Kvadrat Acoustics team – which specialises in customisable acoustic solutions for artistic and architectual projects –the piece was translated into a mesmerising wall-mounted tapestry.
Kvadrat Acoustics stretched the artwork across 11 of its Kvadrat Soft Cells Broadline panels. To allow the piece to wrap fluidly around the space’s unique angles and intersections, the team used ‘a form-finding algorithm to calculate the panels’ precise curvatures’. It also worked with OMA and Studio Miriam Bäckström to optimise the panel performance and ensure image alignment, and developed a unique installation system.
Says Bäckstrom, ‘The concept is that when entering the museum, you also enter a sculpture, giving the illusion that it is larger than the museum itself. You enter another room than expected, and that is what the acoustic experience supports as well.’
Add the Kvadrat Acoustics team, ‘It is amazing to have an artist like Miriam Bäckström choosing a Kvadrat Acoustics product to showcase her artwork; to see an art piece on Kvadrat Acoustics panels and to show our capabilities of doing custom-made solutions.’
The installation is on display throughout 2024 at the Buffalo AKG Art Museum
