HYPNIC JERK
For the Studio of Soho House Copenhagen - coinciding with the week of the Copenhagen Art Fairs - Danish artist Martha Hviid has created a site-specific art installation of soft carpets, delicate ceramics and swirly line drawings, relating to how we connect with our bodies while drifting in and out of subconsciousness.
The work revolves around the concept of ‘hypnic jerk’, an involuntary twitch made by the body on the brink of falling asleep. This is believed to be a neurological leftover from when humans slept in trees, recalibrating the body’s sense of balance at its most vulnerable moment.
The installation plays with the idea of vertigo, showing us a human silhouette hanging mid-fall, with disconnected body fragments twirling in all directions, landing in the form of pearly sculptures across walls and on top of carpets in the distinctive oxidised green used throughout the house.
Photos by Mads Christensen for Nordic Agency
(exhibition and concert by ML Buch)
Analogue photos by Adrian Molina
(artist talk in conversation with Aaron Moulton for Creator Projects) .
2024.