Pineapple Place in Yellow Space, 2021
Hand-dyed nylon, PVC, and mixed plastic, wood, acrylic paint, metal, fibreglass, magnets, electrical fan, polyester
Installation comprising five elements with variable dimensions
Access: To enter the work please remove your shoes and then undo the zipper and magnets. A maximum of two people are allowed inside. Children must be accompanied by an adult. If you would like assistance please ask a member of staff.
Bailee Lobb’s interactive sculptural installations are an experiment in regulating sensory experience. Many public and domestic buildings are designed in a way that can be overwhelming for some people, especially those with bright lights and features that amplify sound such as hard surfaces and sharp corners. As an autistic person who also has fibromyalgia, Bailee experiences significant sensory difficulty in these types of environments. Using her own experiences of disabling buildings as a starting point, she explores the potential of textiles to mediate sensory overload. Pineapple Place in Yellow Space, comprises a series of PVC blind-like partitions and a nylon inflatable orb that gallery visitors can sit inside. The curved and pliant surfaces of the blinds act to dampen sound and the fan within the inflatable generates a soft hum. By hand-dying these fabrics, Bailee creates slight variations in colour saturation that reduces contrast. The translucent materials also filter light, creating a calm ambient glow. Orange Cathedral, located in the foyer, is a similar inflatable form that gallery visitors are free to interact with. While the experience of these interventions will be different for everyone, Bailee centres a disability-led approach to exploring the diversity of human perception and highlights the creative potential of making interior space more inclusive.