Swedish Villa

Swedish Villa by Haegue Yang forms part of her series Chandeliers. The piece is a sculptural installation made up of metal blinds equipped with lamp cords and burning light bulbs in opaque glass. “There is a mysteriousness and spirituality in the most banal things” she has said. In choosing blinds as her material, as Yang has done in several pieces, a reference is being made to the boundary between the private and the public and to the function such window arrangements have had in Korea. In previous centuries handwoven bamboo blinds used to shield women in that country from being looked at while also allowing them to look out. The home was traditionally a place for women while the world outside was seen as a male domain. The colours of the blinds in Swedish Villa are those of the Swedish flag, yellow and blue.