Snake – Design Trust Futures Studio

Snake

Metamorphosis

Designer-mentee: Elaine Yan Ling Ng
Collective Master-mentors: Dennis Chan, Daisy Wang
Lead Curator: Marisa Yiu

L 46 x W 27 x H 32 cm
Metal, magnets, textile, latex, nylon, glass beads

Chinese zodiacs are about providing a space that allows the zodiac character to transform from animal to human, and from human to animal. The project is inspired by the poetic character of snake. The designer focuses on the interlinked transformation and names the work as "Metamorphosis".

Snake is adaptable and flexible, and so are humans. We will experience metamorphosis several times during our lives, exchanging one identity for another. As part of the narrative and design process, the designer has reached out to a Feng Shui master to understand snake as a human character and how the character differs from each other when they were born from different months. Spring is when snake moults, at its lightest form, representing rebirth; Summer is when snake appears to be irrespirable and flamboyant to attract others, representing regeneration; Autumn is when snake is most aggressive and looks for prey, representing attack; Winter is when snake hibernates, representing restfulness.

The seasonal aspiration has been translated by four different materials and processes, which include moulding, sewing, beading, and 3D-printing. The snake is represented in different forms: a translucent skin form with natural latex for spring; multiple hand embroidered modules with hidden magnetic components for summer and autumn, which allow the sculpture to be interchangeable for people to form the shape as they wish; and eventually a heavy 3D printed form for winter, highlighting its natural cycle.

Design Process

"I've picked 'transformation' to focus on because with design I always like to look into biomimicry, understanding how our nature forms itself. I've studied how snakes have transformed themselves in order to survive. I started to look at the physical form and how the micro-parts of snakes, like a module, could inform my design." - Elaine Yan Ling Ng

Project Twelve

 

She Wu by Dennis Chan (2013)

The supple snake is a spiritual creature, Dennis Chan hopes to transform the serpent’s image through a striking piece of jewellery that captures the snake’s remarkable fluidity. This unique work of art features a technical remarkable innovation known as “moving sculpture” which gives the piece a complete freedom of movement, allowing it to take on different forms.