LIFE Design
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of their design studio, Eric Schuldenfrei and Marisa Yiu hosted a boundary-breaking exhibition exploring the importance of fun. Oliver Giles gets a tour
Marisa Yiu and Eric Schuldenfrei marked the 10th anniversary of their design studio with a boundary-breaking exhibition
Certain unspoken rules apply at most exhibitions. Stay quiet and don’t disturb other visitors. Sporadically nod thoughtfully, even if you hate everything on show. Most importantly, never touch the objects on display. All of these were thrown out the window at Marisa Yiu and Eric Schuldenfrei’s recent exhibition, Eskyiu Playkits, where visitors were encouraged to don gym gear, leap over hurdles, shoot hoops and play ping pong, or join forces to create bold experimental music.
Eskyiu Playkits, which ran from November 17 to 28 last year at Artistree in Taikoo Place, was officially a retrospective show celebrating the 10th anniversary of Marisa and Eric’s design studio, Eskyiu. But rather than following convention and hosting a traditional exhibition—perhaps with a chronological series of their drawings pinned to the walls—the couple decided to create something entirely new: an immersive and shapeshifting space that explored the importance of play. “Play is incredibly important. It’s crucial in bringing different people and even entire communities together,” Eric explains.
The exhibition began life as a sporting venue, hosting everything from football matches to circuit training to late-night ping pong matches for professionals who couldn’t leave their desks till late. After a week or so, the whole space transformed overnight into a music hall with instruments and Kef speakers suspended from the ceiling. The Hong Kong New Music Ensemble then moved in and devised a series of new compositions inspired by the space itself and the wider city. In both configurations, the space also hosted a variety of talks exploring big ideas about the future of work and leisure.
Eskyiu Playkits may have closed now, but it’s living on in other forms. Many of the objects in the exhibition were made of Nike Grind, a material created from recycled trainers. When the exhibition closed, these were recycled and used to pave the sports ground of a primary school in Ngau Tau Kok. And, of course, the ideas explored in the exhibition may play into Eskyiu’s future projects. “It was officially a retrospective, but we actually spent a lot of the time looking forward,” says Marisa. “We want the ideas to live on.”