‘Bubble Quilt’ by Studio Rat is an immersive inflatable installation and lighting concept quilted from reclaimed waste plastics. An assemblage of hand-crafted inflated modules embrace and abstract a gridded plan, presenting a soft glow to the space and illuminating surface patterning drawn from traditional quilt square motifs.

An exploration of craft and lightness, ‘Bubble Quilt’ is a playful nod to the aspirations and shortcomings of utopic inflatable ideology, exploring the functional capacity and limitations of this expansive medium.  The work invites us to consider plastic as a magical substance fallen from grace, its transmutable and contentious qualities holding space for a plastic future in which inflatables exist and thrive in our built environment. By pressing, patching, cutting, and quilting the discarded materials held within ‘Bubble Quilt,’ Studio Rat presents a nuanced reflection on the material accumulation in which we are immersed. Inflated conditions of compression and release are presented to visitors, inviting them to engage with the work and place themselves amongst these living, breathing entities.

Studio Rat is a Canadian collective pursuing experimental installation art and design between the cities of Montréal and Toronto. Studio Rat was founded in 2018 as a site for investigations on plastics, inflatables, and community building between artists Dom Di Libero and Emily Allan. The duo creates inflatable dreamscapes from discarded materials that present a commentary on the irreversible binding of plastic in our environments and everyday experience. Play, softness, and sustainability inform Studio Rat’s approach to space-making and DIY fabrication methods, which they engage through a continuous cycle of rework and reuse.