A site-specific installation by Anya Klepikov while at the I-Park artist residency in CT, 2023.
Antique wooden bed frame, brass keys, fishline, mattress pad, pillow, outdoor white canvas, polyurethane, staples.
76" x 27" x 73"
The narrow four-poster bed stands in the middle of a trail, in a clearing surrounded by the greenery of trees and ferns and a patch of sky overhead. Visitors who happen upon it are invited to enjoy the experience by taking off their shoes, lying down on their back, and playing with the strings of keys hanging down from the four-poster frame.
When I came across this beautiful antique bed frame at a thrift shop - (advertised as “a nun’s bed”) - it seemed the perfect expressive container for the experience of the I-Park artist residency: staying in a cabin in the middle of the woods, with a porta potty outside, isolated from the usual noise of the world in order to commune with an internal artistic voice.
The bed’s stark white mattress and pillow were designed with comfort in mind and allow the visitor to experience relaxation typically associated with an interior context. The wood is treated with a coat of polyurethane to withstand the elements and preserve the look of an interior piece of furniture.
The keys on fishline strings evoke a percussion and string instrument at once. It is fun to play with them, and there is no right way to do it. Their magical sound, like a prayer bell, lifts the focus up to the framed rectangle of sky overhead and encourages a deeper awareness of the surrounding natural sounds of birdsong, leaves, and even planes overhead. Glimmering with sound and light when touched by wind or hand, the keys are in tune with the shimmer of forest leaves.
I wanted to amplify and share with others the exquisite private experience of a heightened silence in the middle of nature. This piece is aligned with my passion for tapping objects’ natural potential for aesthetic awe, as well as for creating a space for childlike play, a necessary space for us all to visit from time to time.
Photos: Anya Klepikov, Kaitrin Acuna, Jason Ting.
