NUIT BLANCHE DE KYOTO

KYOTO’S WHITE NIGHTS

Installation lumineuse « Aire de jeu »

au Musée d’art moderne Kyocera
04.2022
Light installation project at Kyocera
Museum of Modern Art in Kyoto
Oct 2022
Giant washi paper cocoons by Céline Wright at the Kyocera Museum in Kyoto
Title : Cocoon-shelters !

Céline Wright’s luminous cocoons with their organic shapes, become Fabrication, collaborations :
protective shelters.
This installation will provide the opportunity for various collaborations with
For more than 20 years Céline Wright has been creating hand- craftsmen, Kyoto artists and Villa Kujoyama laureates :
made washi paper lights in her workshop in Montreuil, near Paris in France.
Each model is handmade. According to her « handmade work is the only - In particular, Hiroshi Ueta calligrapher/performer
non-polluting human energy ». Light and airy in form, each of her crea- - For the Bamboo structure, Michiku Bamboo/Skills/Creator
tions is inspired by the transparency and whiteness of Japanese paper. - Possibility to involve architecture students to help build the washi and
bamboo cocoons washi and bamboo cocoons.
Project : Céline cultivates a particular sensitivity for washi paper. Since the
birth of cocoons with organic, maternal and enveloping shapes, she has
remained faithful to her artisanal approach and draws her energy from
the heart of the material, making nature her source of inspiration. Resis-
tant and translucent, washi paper allows her to create voluminous pieces
and works of extreme lightness.

The artist seeks to «push the potential of the material to the extreme
through experimentation». This will be the object of his research during his
next residency at Villa Kujoyama: to make the washi self-supporting thanks
to a technique that will be similar to the honeycomb.

Faced with the planet’s new ecological challenges, the climate emergen-
cy, the elements, Céline proposes to curl up in her washi cocoons as if in a
nest, an igloo or a placenta and admire Mother Nature, furious or soo-
thing...

Installation : Several giant washi paper cocoons in which one enters or

slips into to take refuge, to find comfort in the face of bad weather, climatic
catastrophes. We will move from one atmosphere to another. Entirely « na-
tural », the cocoons are made of diaphanous sheets of paper, translucent,
light, solid like a second skin and bamboo for the structure, the skeleton.
From the outside the cocoons diffuse a soft, uneven, living light, they invite
you inside where they become a support for the diffusion of 360° images
of storms, hurricanes, heatwaves, of a battered nature whose beauty can
then be admired in complete tranquillity.

Around them, dancers and musicians will intervene in the manner of a

living theatre.
MATERIAL, LIGHTNESS AND RESISTANCE

Realization of a custom light fixture for the Baha Mar Hotel in the Bahamas, 2020
WASHI PAPER BECOMES SELF-SUPPORTING
IN SITU

Sea of clouds» set for the exhibition Samurai, myths and reali-
ties at the Musée des Ducs de Bretagne in Nantes, 2013

Making the mold on site and gluing the paper

Detail of washi paper

Cocoon, nest, igloo, protective shelters, natural refuges, accumulation
Walls, interior, organic, skin, protective feeling, transpa-
rency, overlapping, tunnel

"Womb Chapel Nave II", Ernesto Neto, 2013

INDOOR / OUTDOOR
Sound and light ambiance

COCON AVEC
PROJECTION
2600

11500

6400
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IMAGES PROJECTED ON A GIANT SCREEN

Cf : Videos attached
Model scale 1:8

Making of the entire bamboo structure

at scale 1:8 around the column,
sustaining by tension.
Bamboos are assembled together
to get more possible length, and are
maintained by the superior part of the
column.
A central crossed shape structure is
used as the base for the horizontal
elements.
To get a good shape of the entire
future cloud, it needs a lot of elements,
the final project will probably have
more than this.
From this model, we can estimate the
longest bamboo use in real scale at
around 14 meters.
After the finishing of the structure, it is being
recovered by a plastic film, which serve as
support for the washi paper.
The glue used is 100% natural, made of rice.
After the drying, the washi paper is much
more resistant, like a shell, so the plastic film
can be removed easily from it.
The structure under it is made perceptible
thanks to the natural tension caused by the
drying of the paper.
Model scale 1:1
Making of a part of the bamboo structure at scale 1:1,
following the same principles as the scale before.
At this scale, the bamboo structure is being constrained
by tires to get the good shape, so it can’t move and just
need to be suspended. Also, a net is deployed on it to
offer more support to the plastic film coming after.
After the plastic film is in tension, we put several layouts
of glue-coated washi paper starting from the top.
Rice is still used as glue, even if wood glue offers more
tension to the paper once dry.
At this scale, it is necessary to have a way to access to
the upper parts of the structure to put the paper. Here
the stairs where helpfull, but the final structure should
probably being made easily movable to change its
position when necessary.
A large amount of glue and paper is necessary.
We can estimate at 40 liters of glue and 50
washi paper rolls needed for the final project.
The paper is cut in pieces of around 35x30cm.
The glue is made from rice flour cooked in
water.
After the drying, the shell is translucent and solid, but
probably still need bamboo support to stay perfectly in
shape. The plastic film is easily removable.
The cloud request lot of time to make, so we have to construct
it before the installation. Due to its dimensions, the cloud will
have to be separated in small parts to be moved on the site
trough the narrow gates of the museum and the Villa.
To do that, the primary structure will be construct at the Villa
Kujoyama to form the cloud, then disassembled and made
again in the museum, the cloud will be separated in part and
brought on site such as, to be reassembled for the event.
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Coupes projet
 assemblage
démontable

Vue en plan du chassis primaire

enserrant le pilier

Chaque montant est composé de 2 bambous de 8m assemblés et facilement démontables pour transport.
Le chassis primaire est indépendant du reste du cocon. Il sert de support d’appui à la structure secondaire, il sera
désassemblé après le séchage du papier et réassemblé au musée.
Vue en plan de la structure secondaire
supportant le papier

Chaque montant est composé de 2 bambous de 8m assemblés. Les montants forment les diagonales supportant la forme
du cocon. Ils reposent sur le chassis primaire mais sont indépendans structurellement.
La structure est doublée pour pouvoir être séparée en 4 voiles, une fois le papier collé dessus et sec. Les voiles sont
dimensionnés pour passer les ouvertures réduites du musée, ou peuvent encore être divisés par 2 dans la hauteur si
nécessaire. Cette structure reste dans les voiles pour soutenir leur forme. Ils seront emmenés sur site et réassemblés sur le
chassis primaire.
Logique de voiles indépendants
et réassemblables
Système d’assemblage entre montants
Séparation du système pour transport
verticaux et horizontaux doublés pour
pouvoir être séparés
Système d’assemblage de 2 bambous pour augmenter la longueur totale
Visualisation sur la maquette des deux structures Possibilité d’ajouter une séparation horizontale
indépendantes et superposées aux voiles pour diminuer leur dimension
FICHE PRODUITS

Grand Cocon :

Structure verticale : 16 x Bamboo ep 7mm, largeur 30 mm, longueur 8m

Structure horizontale : 20 x Bamboo ep 7mm, largeur 30 mm, longueur 8m

Petit Cocon :

Structure verticale : 16 x Bamboo ep 7mm, largeur 30 mm, longueur 6m

Structure horizontale : 20 x Bamboo ep 7mm, largeur 30 mm, longueur 6m