2025 UP IN THE AIR
Cindy Yiin
To be installed in Vardanyans’ Park, Knotted Clouds is an inflatable structure inspired by traditional Armenian Carpets. While the park’s pavement itself is inspired by the traditional rug ornamentation, the installation focuses on using weaving and knotting techniques to create its pillowy form. The base grid of the installation is made of a translucent inflatable tubes, maintaining visibility of the pavement through the tubes to emphasize that the intervention and the site are two parts to one story. Smaller vinyl tubes filled with either air or cloth rags are braided together to form a set of “strands” that are heavy enough to hold the construction down yet light enough to maneuver and adjust. As the strands are knotted through the grid, the installation is shaped while its structural integrity is stabilized through interlocking. Interactive and adjustable, the bulky design of the components calls for teamwork to move the lightweight pieces into new configurations. Through this process, Knotted Clouds centers a message of the joy and resilience of traditional craftsmanship and of the collective effort required to adapt and thrive in the face of instability