Strips of Color in a Meeting Room
In Kari Dyrdal's Aleppo II strips of cloth are stretched up against the wall, like Italian clotheslines, with clothes in all the colors of the rainbow hanging outside the windows of floor after floor. But the surroundings here are as far from the southern street facades as they get. White walls. A long, narrow ribbon window runs just below the bottom of the strips of cloth. The room is modernist in its coolness. A large table with several chairs around it, this is a room meant to be used.
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The strips of cloth are thin, colorful. They hang loosely, forming gentle arcs. The main pattern on the textile is made up of semi-circular shapes. At first, they look like circles that are cut off where the fabric ends. On closer inspection it becomes clear that the circles would have been oval, egg-shaped, if they weren’t always cut off on one or both sides. The patchwork impression is offset by the rhythmic flow of the suspension. The textile ribbon is hooked up on a regular basis, about half a meter apart. The piece Aleppo II refers to Syria’s largest city. Aleppo is one of the oldest extant cities in the world. The title may be a play on the city’s varied architecture and colorful market places, which is reflected in the controlled patchwork effect of Dyrdal’s piece.
Kari Dyrdal (1952-) is a textile artist. The patterned, decorated surface is her main interest, and she often uses repetition in her pieces. In recent years she has worked extensively with digital weaves, and she has also produced site-specific works in glass, metal and stone. Dyrdal has produced decorations all over Norway, including at the Aker River Nursing Home, the NSB Terminal Hall at Oslo S, and Bjørnstierne Bjørnson’s square in Bergen. She also works as a professor at the Bergen National Academy of the Arts.
NORA SØRENSEN VAAGE