SKINNED is a growing collection of fragile mold-casts from places. Memorable parts of buildings and other ‘solid’ spaces can be copied endlessly into foldable skins. These thin fragments of spatial memory show specific details of the structure or material of the original place, but also capture dirt. Like skin transplantations they can be taken to other spaces where they get new spatial meaning. They take us to a world in which places are no longer fixed to specific locations, but become nomadic or ‘liquid’.  The skins as shown here, are casts of several places in Amsterdam; of which most of them vacant buildings. This project was executed by Jorien Kemerink within the master Vacant NL at the Sandberg Institute Amsterdam.

The skins are thin like textile, and almost become wearable. The (dirt) patterns of for example a tile floor mark the history of the original place. When the skins are drawn out of their original context and are brought to a new one, their character changes. The impact on for example an abandoned office building is remarkable.

This cast is made in Beijing, China, where KNOL’s Jorien Kemerink taught a masterclass at the the Central Academy of Fine Arts. Together with students, unique skins were produced of remarkable spots of Beijing’s streets and industrial buildings.