Noah Kalina

When we think of beds, we usually think of them as neatly made, waiting to be used. I wanted to undo that, to pull back the covers and sculpt a monumental shape out of the fabric where our bodies would be, and where our bodies have been, as both a still-life (of the materials of sleep) and a portrait (of someone's presence).

Published by Yoffy Press
Essay by Zach Vitale
Hardcover, 7.625 x 10.25 inches
96 pages
Edition of 500
ISBN: 978-1-949608-13-7

Installation view - VSOP Projects

People lined up to get first dibs on what was left. There was a mad dash to the elevators to get to the floors that weren’t already picked clean. Since the liquidation sale had been going on for a few weeks every room was mostly raided of everything of value. Room after room there were turned over mattresses and nightstands, the alarm clocks blinking. There were holes in the wall where framed art was hanging. It felt like the end of the world.
In this installation, I am not capturing a moment of time but something that has seen its full life cycle. What was once a place of opulence and entertainment was now a gutted shell of decay. The origin of this bedmound is impersonal. The goal was to create something human out of something devoid of humanity.
The materials in this bedmound (bedframe, pillows, and duvet) were all sourced from the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City.