2014, Merchandise Mart, Chicago
Courtesy of Wolf Gordon, Guild, KarlssonWilker
Role:  Lead Installation Design, 3D Modeling, Visualization
Photography by James Shanks

General:
The 2014 Wolf Gordon installation, the third collaboration between Wolf Gordon, Karlsson Wilker, and Guild for Chicago’s Neocon event, once again showcases a free-wielding cascade of color created with an underlying systematic approach. The twisting ribbon-like form acts as a canvas for a gradient of Wolf Gordon fabrics, textiles, and wall coverings that intertwine with a white steel diagrid structure, demonstrating a contrast between organic and rigid geometries above the historic Merchandise Mart atrium.

Design Organization:
Although the sculpture appears to be a tangle of free-formed objects, it is created with an organized approach that relies on regular components placed in specific orientations to one another. The sculpture is composed of three different “families”, each of which creates the illusion of a continuous ribbon formed by several separate pieces. Intertwining these families create the illusion of a dynamic interweaving of color and form. 
Each separate piece exists as a double-curving arched strip that is oriented in a specific way to it’s neighbors. Each component is the same shape or a mirrored version of itself, covered with six swatches of fabric on the inside and six on the outside. The sculpture in total showcases 144 fabrics, textiles, and wall coverings with 12 identical pieces.