industrial bamboo forest by ESKYIU

‘the industrial bamboo forest’ by ESKYIUphoto © ESKYIU

the post-industrial area of hong kong wong chuk hang–meaning yellow bamboo pit in chinese–has been rapidly transforming into a community of creatives who occupy the factory floors of the post-industrial buildings situated there. it is here that spring workshop resides, an arts space committed to an international cross-disciplinary program of artist and curatorial residences, exhibitions music, film and talks. designboom friends marisa yiu and eric schuldenfrei of ESKYIU were commissioned by spring to develop an installation for its roof terrace. drawing on the heritage of the surrounding region where yellow bamboo once grew abundantly and for which it is aptly named, the duo conceived ‘industrial forest’, an expansive art work which recreates the idea of a natural landscape, through the use of mass produced materials, exploring the complexity of artifice and nature.

the installation is comprised of hundreds of incredibly thin metallic bamboo polesphoto © ESKYIU

here, ESYIU have installed a network of aluminium filaments, covering the area of the space, the density in which they have been arranged aligning with the congestion of the traffic below. the urban forest is blanketed by an artificial carpet of grass, crafted to express the imperfections of real sod (the yellowing, the patchiness, the deterioration), indicative of the long-term draught brought about by global warming.

the entire work is contained within a mirrored enclosure which lines the walls of the terrace, falsely replicating the field of geometric poles, such that they provide an illusion of depth and substance where there is none. over the series of months in which the ‘industrial forest will live here, it will be altered–as the filaments are removable–with the potential to carve out voids within the thickness of their existence to accept significant crowds; as well as the elements being arranged in excess to restrict complete access to the site, however, their configuration obscuring the industrial buildings surrounding it, carefully framing the sky.

each filament is removable, with the potential to carve out a void from within the dense forest of the environmentphoto © ESKYIU

the forest reacts to its environments and the people entering it. the weight of a spectator causes the poles to bend slightly, while external elemental factors such as wind, cause them to sway, providing an indication of local wind velocity and trajectory. the tip of each aluminium thread is illuminated by night, its color also acting as a sign of surrounding conditions: a hazy reddish-orange color is emitted if pollution levels are extremely high; white for normal; and a crisp blue for exceptionally clear skies. this component of the work is powered by a photovoltaic panel, so if skies are just too dark during the day, the light will fail to illuminate at all.