Enika Zhou, Ephemeral attunements [×]

The time of the pandemic in 2020 has changed our relationship to interior and exterior space. For me, extensive periods of isolation have resulted in a deep immersion in the transient ephemera of interiors and a disconnection from the outside world. At the same time, digital online space has become more important as a way of staying connected to others and ourselves. Through the framing of atmospheric phenomena and transition into the ambiguous digital realm, this body of work emphasises an attunement to the calming, overlooked qualities of interior space as a means to appreciate the benefits of this period of extended interiority.
This body of work builds on an archive of temporary installations developed throughout the year which evoke an attentiveness to ephemeral states as result of the interplay between the interior and exterior. In an attempt to slow down our engagement with the world, this work emphasises the contemplative and in certain moments, an experience that might be described as sublime.
Through the use of material-led explorations and digital mediums such as film and photography, this design research presents this experience of interior attunement through an online encounter to create a journey through the successive layers of virtual and actual interior and exterior spaces. This transitional experience is intended to emphasise an awareness of one’s own looking through moments of uncertainty, a dissolving of inside and outside and the actual and virtual.
This project may be understood as an archive of approaches; actual, virtual and combined, that have been developed as a response to this year of isolation. They are attunements to the quiet realm of the often overlooked as well as techniques or approaches to interior design, intended as an aid to those who like me have found themselves confined in order to see the true benefit of an extended period of reflection and contemplation.