MELT's ara[o]da expands into immersive platform exploring liminal state of refugees

melt’s ara[o]da installation explores state of in-betweenness

MELT’s Ara[o]da is a mobile spatial installation that delves into the liminal state experienced by individuals grappling with the decision to stay or leave their homelands under challenging circumstances. Using architectural space as a form of art, Ara[o]da examines the complex state of ‘being neither here nor there.’

Initially disguised as an ordinary exhibition wall, it conceals a contrasting, narrow living space filled with found everyday objects in an unsettling arrangement, highlighting the distressing nature of in-betweenness. This enterable green box transforms when opened, spilling its contents into the exhibition space, becoming a platform for events, interaction, and communication, redefining the boundaries between private and public, interior and exterior.

Ara[o]da installation | all images courtesy of MELT

expanding from exhibition wall to immersive platform

The problem with this familiar ‘leave-staying’ dilemma, MELT recognizes, is that it presents a false dichotomy in the search for an ideal place to reside instead of focusing on the ache of not being able to stay. Independent from the decision, there seems to be an ‘in-between state’ that alienates individuals from their so-called ‘selected’ place of inhabitation. This is why any binary framing obscures the tapestry of this characteristic state: highlighting the striking nuance between not leaving and staying.

The studio addresses this with Ara[o]da by manifesting the condition in physical terms and using architectural space as a form of art and a discursive tool to interpret the phenomenon of ‘being neither here nor there.’ The installation is composed of two phases; in its initial closed state, it takes the form of a mobile exhibition wall as a natural part of the exhibition space. Yet, the wall is enterable and encloses a confined green environment in contrast with the neutral atmosphere of the white cube. This juxtaposition serves to highlight the unsettled nature of in-betweenness, so much that the living experience itself transforms into an abstract framework in which space, objects and events are closely interwoven.

MELT presents mobile spatial installation, Ara[o]da

Consequently, the layout questions the point where space and objects begin and end, the tension between them, and the relationship between the parts and the whole. Yet, the experiences are multifaceted and defy a singular definition or scale. As a result of its subjective nature, Ara[o]da interprets ‘state of in-between’ as a perceptive phenomenon and becomes transformable itself in its latter phase.

When its panels are open, the installation transcends into a penetrable state. The wall diffuses into its surrounding, spilling its contents into the exhibition space and simultaneously creating a place of encounter. Now the ‘space within the space’ becomes a tool to re-define in-betweenness by means of the repertoires belonging to different disciplines. ‘A tool that materializes an everyday dilemma in the form of a spatial experience to be interacted in human scale; a tool that is able to move and convert in different contexts; a tool that transforms the environment and responsive enough to reshape itself,’ notes the team at MELT.

in its open phase, it expands from a gallery wall to a stage

the installation can be moved around the space and reconfigured for different uses

using architectural space as a form of art, Ara[o]da examines the complex state of ‘being neither here nor there’

as it begins to open up, it emits a green glow from within

the inner green environment sits in an unsettling contrast with the neutral atmosphere of the white cube

narrow living space filled with found everyday objects in an unsettling arrangement

the layout questions the point where space and objects begin and end within the living space

internal view

the objects spill out into the exhibition space

in its adaptable configurations, the installation creates a place of encounter and reflection

MELT’s installation physically manifests the complicated liminal state of mind

project info:

name: Ara[o]da: A mobile spatial installation
designer: MELT | @meltstudioworks

funded by: European Union project CultureCIVIC: Art Production Grant

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: ravail khan | designboom