Liina Lember

I'm a multidisciplinary designer and artist from Estonia. I explore space, colour, light and other-than-human invisible dimensions. My design process is influenced by experimentation, science and other-than-human entities. I try and imagine what is the embodied experience of another entity in order to design for multispecies futures.

I am interested in the limitations, edges and shared embodied experiences. I experiment, research and question the liminal space between plausible futures and alternative realities.

With a background in interior design and illustration, I hope to provoke discussion and engage people in a playful manner through objects, experiences, bold graphics and imaginative spaces.

Education

2012 - 2016 Interior Design BA(Hons) Glasgow School of Art, First Class degree

Autumn 2014 Interior Architecture and Product Design, École Camondo Les Arts Décoratifs Paris, Erasmus student exchange program

Prizes and awards

2021 Citizen Rights in the Era of Platform Ecologies, Student Awards nominee, Media Architecture Biennale

2021 Narrative Design winner, Storybook on Coronavirus for children, IDC School of Design, IIT Bombay India

The Chairman's Medal: Design school, Glasgow School of Art

Douglas Clerk Memorial Prize, Glasgow School of Art

Exhibitions

upcoming: "Mutuality in the Biosphere" exhibition and workshops in collaboration with Nirit Binyamini Ben-Meir, The Potting Shed, Collective Matter, 3 - 4 JULY 2021

upcoming: IED 'Beep Beep' event, Menier Gallery, 23 - 25 JULY 2021

In-visible Moth Spells is an installation which explores the mutual interests, shared concerns and interconnectedness of moths, humans and other species. The installation examines how light pollution, the changing urban space and dwindling natural resources affect a range species including our own. Invisible Moth Spells creates a space for moths and people to meet, being it either red electromagnetic spectrum, interactive urban playground or spoken enchanting moth spells.

This project has been developed as a response to the alarming declining numbers of ecosystems and insect populations as a result of urbanization, habitat loss, pesticide use, light pollution and climate crisis. This project aims to bring attention to and question existing social stigmas while encouraging care and sharing information about moths. The project's main objective is to make the invisible visible.

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During the installation the audience is bathed in red enchanting light whilst listening to moth spells

The installation addresses our connection to other species, urban light pollution and the urgency caused by mass extinction

The installation is placed outdoors to create a space for the human and the moth to meet

Circular positioning of the mats aims to connect and bring all species together in the space

In the red light spectrum all ordinary foliage becomes enchanted by the depths between shadow and light

In-visible Moth Spells installation trailer

In-visible Moth Spells installation audio

The space becoems a place for reflection and encouraging care for moths

The red light installation is an invitation for the audience to experience red colour and light whilst listening to moth spells. It's a multisensory experience that takes place in the evening at moth time. Because moths don't see the red colour spectrum, the space becomes a place where both the human and the moth might meet.

Through storytelling and moth spells, this piece aims to bring attention and encourage care for moths. Moths are important pollinators and often overlooked or have a bad reputation, despite being as enchanting and wonderful as butterflies. The installation aims to cast a spell on the audience in order to save the moths.

The piece questions anthropocentric urban light use and the widely used limited strong white colour spectrum that negatively affects moth and other nocturnal species populations.

The piece consists of one central light sculpture and six floor mats, ambient music, surrounding Night Scented Stock plants that open at moth time and spoken moth spells.

Medium:

steel, aluminium, glass, textile, red light

In Collaboration with:

Hannah Archambault

Sound artist and author of the "Une Pluie de Papillons" sound piece for this installation

Susan Atwill

Spoken spells

Johann Spindler

Outdoor photography

Care Climate crisis Ethics (non-human)Installation Invisible Connections Light Pollution Moth Multisensory Multispecies Multispecies experience Non-human Spells

The project envisages a set of urban sculptures that address different aspects of moths

The bold colours and geometrical shapes create a playful and inviting atmosphere

From the collection of sculptures, I decided to build the red light and the megaphone sculpture

The disassembled red light and megaphone sculptures in 1:1 scale

The Urban Playground consists of seven different sculptures that invites the audience to explore in a playful way the wonderful world of moths and their importance in ecosystems. Each sculpture presents a different aspect of moths. For example, one of the sculptures one can listen to poems about moths while the other shows the ultramagnetic light rays that affect their populations. The work acts as a portal into the more-than-human world of insects and moths, in which light becomes a material and urban space its playground.

Creativity Inclusive Design Interactive Sculpture Interactive Space Moth Multispecies Multispecies experience Sculpture Speculative Playground Sustainability Urban Playground Urban Space

The booklet includes an illustrated short story of the last moth that questions our use of outdoors lights

We are dependant on and have relationships with other species in all spaces

The Indefinite Guide for Sensing the In-visible booklet

The booklet also includes all spells that are spoken during the installation and details about moth vision

The red light installation is accompanied by an illustrated fictional booklet that introduces the invisible dimension, contains written moth spells and tells a story of the last moth. The project's visual representation is guided by moths' colour and light perception and human created urban tiled grid patterns. The project's use of grids as a part of the visual language represents the human desire to control and organize the natural world.

I would like to express my gratitude to Zoë Randle from the Butterfly Conservation for helping to collect and spread the word about moth spells. Also, a big thank you to all the spell authors Steve Palin, Anna-Maria Amato, Lisa Hawkins, Philip Burton and Roy Leverton.