The original inspiration was around the word ‘air’. I started questioning what is in the 'air' that is all around us, and whether there is another world in an alternate dimension hidden from plain view. Much like how a Mobius strip is a non-orientable 2D surface, I thought about how I can 'open up' a world within a 3D object to reveal an inner dimension.
Technically, this was very interesting from a crochet point of view because it is literally a flat piece of work, with regular stitch increases doubled on the outer edge from the inner edge that causes the spiral effect. Since it is a calculated number of stitches, this forms an almost exact spiral, allowing it to stack atop one another to form a cylindrical shape (not exactly due to human error!). I hid a secondary colour inside so it could be revealed against the black when opened, much like a Riflebird arranging its blue feathers against the black during its famous mating dance.
It is quite amazing to me how the entire tall structure can be pulled apart to be a singular strip; imagine if that was what the world is, and how it would be like if we unravelled it into a strip?

This project was a collaboration with Christopher Johann Clarke, who helped setup the hardware, and Siah Tiong Hong, who helped code the software. I wanted to use this project to explore different mechanical elements that could be included in my work, such as making it move. Chris introduced a sensor that reacted to movement, and Siah coded a software that would move a stepper motor if the sensor was triggered. The stepper motor would reel in a fishing line, which opened up the ‘smokestack’.