Sweet Dreams showcases a bedroom – but with a playful twist! A single bed is covered with a hairy quilt, accompanied by hairy slippers and a bedside table on which stands a hair-coiled and fringed reading lamp. A series of life-sized hair-covered garments, based on the hinged paper doll clothing from Kleemann-Passi’s childhood, each exposing an internal body organ, adorn the walls. More abstract hair panels and objects constructed from photographs of human skin, a floor mat and the world-first Mo-Hair Suit, made from a bespoke textile comprising men’s facial hair, will complete the installation.
At first glance, Sweet Dreams & Gut Reactions looks curiously attractive and mysterious, but on closer inspection it evokes a sense of disquiet and discomfort. The exquisitely beautiful quilt sprouts human and cat hair, the detritus shed that we’re endlessly brushing off our quilts and doonas. It looks deceptively cosy, but with an undercut that’s ticklish and irritating, so it’s possibly more nightmarish than snug! Rather than being protective and comforting, the clothing could become unhinged at any moment and uncover an unexpected response in the viewer. The meticulously stitched and combed hair mirrors the often-ridiculous processes we go through in our personal grooming. What makes the work even more compelling is the powerful embodiment of presence and absence. In this bedroom the physical body is absent; only the traces shed by the occupier remain. Sweet Dreams & Gut Reactions is a metaphor for what is repetitive and unnerving in our personal and public rituals and interactions.
At first glance, Sweet Dreams & Gut Reactions looks curiously attractive and mysterious, but on closer inspection it evokes a sense of disquiet and discomfort. The exquisitely beautiful quilt sprouts human and cat hair, the detritus shed that we’re endlessly brushing off our quilts and doonas. It looks deceptively cosy, but with an undercut that’s ticklish and irritating, so it’s possibly more nightmarish than snug! Rather than being protective and comforting, the clothing could become unhinged at any moment and uncover an unexpected response in the viewer. The meticulously stitched and combed hair mirrors the often-ridiculous processes we go through in our personal grooming. What makes the work even more compelling is the powerful embodiment of presence and absence. In this bedroom the physical body is absent; only the traces shed by the occupier remain. Sweet Dreams & Gut Reactions is a metaphor for what is repetitive and unnerving in our personal and public rituals and interactions.