Strange Vacancy

STRANGE VACANCY

“And then she left the room, leaving behind the nametag, the untouched cup of tea, and a strange blank space where she had been.”

A Shinagawa Monkey Murakami Haruki

STRANGE VACANCY

Selected Works, 2021-2023

Emilie Tamtik

The strange vacancy is a hungry void that attracts within itself the human inhabitant as a missing puzzle piece. It is not the feeling that something is absent but rather the feeling that something is yet to appear. The following projects peer at these spaces of negative pressure with anticipation of what is to come.

FLOOD DAY

Seedvault at Kayanase

2022 Studio Project

Advisor: Julia Di Castri

Site: Kayanase ecological restoration facility on the Grand River, Toronto.

MICROPROPAGATION

CRYOPRESERVATION

DRYINGINCUBATOR GROUND FLOOR

This bunker like structure engages with the Kayanase site’s flood conditions to connect with generations of the future, using the seedbank as a means to preserve and transmit knowledge of the land’s original culture. A central axis joins existing Kayanase structures to a canoe dock in the Grand River, reorienting the site to prioritize the water. A solid concrete base sits on the river’s edge to protect the concealed, subterranean seed-vault. In contrast, the translucent greenhouse functions to signify ‘Plants Grow Here!’, a message for inhabitants who will find the facility emerging out of the water in the 100 year flood event. A central core connects all floors and draws visitors down to the subterranean vault facility, where all preserved seeds lay in anticipation.

GREENHOUSE FLOOR

100 YEAR FLOOD EVENT

REGULAR FLOOD EVENT

ASCENT/DESCENT

Geometric design exercise

2021 Studio Project Advisor: Fiona Lim Tung

Extrapolated from an abstract line drawing, in this Excuisite-Corpse design exercise students applied principles of universal design to create spontaneous spaces. Extruding and piercing, students worked with finite fragments to create spaces of exploration and discovery. Stairs are used to draw visitors through parallel circulation paths on the structures exterior and interior. Fluid and meandering pathways create intriguing moments of tension where one flow of circulation can be explored from above and below.

Scenography sequence through exterior and interior circulation paths.

H Y S T E R I A

Victoria College Environmental Fashion Show (VEFS) Collection

Victoria College at the University of Toronto, March 2023

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The undergarment for cosmic denizens, a thermal regulating layer designed to be worn with strategic combination of cover layers. Made out of deconstructed athletic shirts, the garment is moisture wicking, light-weight and supports the wearer’s body in action.

am aware of someone else.

is there before me?

if it is melting. I cannot see

A strange feeling. My body seems

My figure is fading away.

visible, though it feels as if this is not

me, the figure which forms me. This is the me that

am I? What am I? I am myself. This object is

The collection’s form finding emerged from iconic science fiction narratives and precedent costume designs for stories set in the farthest reaches of the galaxy. The theme of Andromeda embodies a human yearning - hubris perhaps - for the otherworldly, but my garments embody the delicate nature of the human body, especially its limited ability to survive unmediated in the elements. My collection presents under-suits for bodies in unpredictable environments. Additional garments can be combined and layered to fit the wearer’s thermal and functional requirements. A sartorial examination of human fragility and resilience, I propose a collection of garments meant to accompany one into a contentious, and vast future among space debris and the great unknown.

This is me. Who am I? What am I? What am I?

Flowers.

made. Humans are what?

Something that God made.

I possess are my life and mind. The vessel of a mind.

visible, something invisible. Sun.

Made by Man and Woman are humans. Town.

Heavy mountains,

Something that humans made. Eva.

Something unique. Water.

Humans are things which humans made. The

Entry plug, the throne of a soul. Who is

Something agreeable.

Something that

Commander

Many of them alike, many of them useless. Sky. Red, red sky. Red color. Red color that

Something that changes through ages. Sky. Blue sky. Some

hate. Water flow. Blood. The smell of blood. A woman that does not bleed. Made from the red soil are

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ANDROMEDA

Photography by Iris Chae

Event photography by Abigail Fair, Nathan Ching and Elisabeth Atkinson

As the show’s Creative Director, I created the runway around the concept of ‘parallax’ - a stretched ellipse becomes a sphere once viewed from head on - to encourage viewers to seek out changes in perspective. I assembled the show’s audio-visual backgrond, sound responsive visualizers, as well as a central landscape installation using repurposed netting. The show displayed the work of 20 designers, 150 models and hosted over 500 viewers over three show dates (March 24, 25, 26, 2023).

A joint between two schools

A structure that needs to unify two opposing art school buildings - an architecture building and a visual arts building - this lobby space takes as its main design motif a cylinder that links together the two schools. Resulting from a careful stereotomic strategy, the building is characterized by swooping curves strategic piercings toward soft lightsources. The main cylinder connects all floors as the main auditorium space for students and staff to gather for events or pass time inbetween classes. The cylinder hangs heavilly over the basement floor that includes space for a cafe and dining space. Studio spaces and an art gallery sit above the cylinder, making use of consistent north light to illuminate work and display spaces. Piercings in the walls and dynamic floor heights provide unexpected eyelines between the building’s inhabitants. Employing principles of universal design, meandering ramp pathways allow freedom of movement across the community space.

Second floor gallery space.

ORIGINAL FRAGMENT MAIN GEOMETRIC OPERATION - CYLINDERS

BOOLEAN VOIDS

INSERT FLOORPLATES

PIERCE LIGHT WELLS

SECONDFLOO

FLOOR

INSERT FLOORPLATES

PIERCE LIGHT WELLS

HARDSCAPING WITH CYLINDERS

GEOMETRY JOINS THE CAMPUS

Renders of interior staircase.

inaccessible void-space

emerging pathway

seeping cave structure

A VITAL MATTER

Exhibition room for Elda Smith’s Vessel

2022 Studio Project Advisor: Julia Di Castri Series of photographs

liquid

waxpaper walls

Ceramic Pot, Mohawk, Made by Elda Smith, 1973

Drawing inspiration from oozing tree-sap, the visitor emerges through a portal of pouring matter, frozen in the form of a seeping cave. In reverence, the black substance reveals a path toward an artefact, yet that which lies beyond the platform remains inaccessible. The unreachable void invokes the unseen members of our community to appreciate Elda Smith’s work of pottery. This room is an exploration of the concept of vital matter - a dynamic substance in constant movement, seized momentarily by the skill of an artist, until it returns to the fluid flesh of Mother Earth once again.

HACKER

Victoria College Environmental Fashion Show (VEFS) Collection

Victoria College at the University of Toronto

April 9th, 2022

The Victoria College Environmental Fashion Show held at the University of Toronto challenges designers to create garments by repurposing used materials. Under the theme in-sync/ out-of-touch, the collection reconfigures the traditional office uniform from the lens of dystopian fiction. Drawing inspiration from 90s dystopian office movies like The Matrix and Johnny Mnemonic, the clothing pushes back against corporate uniformity by priviledg the self-made, imperfect and unfinished. Sustainable fashion creates a space for makers to propose alternatives to the antagonist that is the contemporary fashion industry, and this collection hopes to empower viewers to experiment and create something new using mundane materials.

VRay renders of 3D scanned garments.