Korea was once known as the “Nation of Hats” particularly due to the traditional Gat —a black, cylindrical hat with a flat top, awide brim, and a bamboo frame.

HAT PARALLELS is a 3D printed gat hat and lighting installation for the Cheongju International Craft Biennale 2015 which combines Ligenza cutting edge 3D printed techniques with the traditional crafted Korean gat hat. The installation is a collaboration between YOU&ME and internationally acclaimed milliner and accessories designer Gabriela Ligenza.

Delicately hovering in the space, the 3D printed hats are displayed so as to enable people to walk beneath them. Bathed in light, the hats cast shadows onto passing observers and the floor below, showering them with verse and transporting them to a separate poetic reality. This shadow projection is a translation of the text into the other language - the Korean hat with Korean text casts an English translation and visa-versa. Where the shadows of the hats overlap, the words become entwined, joining the ancient languages and cultures via modern technology. Ethereal and atmospheric, the installation evokes different reactions from each observer. As with poetry, interpretation is subjective, dependent upon mood and personality, with the reader/observer being the final piece of the jigsaw giving the prose/installation life and meaning. It is evident that transferring meaning to an object using words can not only change the perception of it in a significant way but also evoke a deeper response to the piece.

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