“Shelter”

Art Series: TAO-Matches

Project: Architecture from Matches

• Miniature size:4.5 × 4.6 × 5.3 cm
• Size in case:diameter 7.5 cm × height 8.9 cm
• Miniature weight:0.010 kg
• Weight with packaging:0.192 kg

Materials:

• matches
• glue
• Ukrainian 5 kopeck coin (magnetic base element)
• glass (protective case)

Description of work

“Shelter” is a chamber architectural miniature created from matches, in which the house appears not as a functional building, but as an archetype of an internal space of safety. Built from a fragile, almost disposable material, this house embodies the paradox of modern existence: the most valuable often consists of the most vulnerable.

The scale of the object — almost palm-sized — deliberately reduces architecture to the level of personal experience. This is not a house for the life of the body, but a house for memory, silence and presence. The simplicity of the form — a gable roof, windows, doors — appeals to the universal image of the house, recognizable in any culture.

The miniature is placed on a round base, inside of which is hidden a magnet created on the basis of the Ukrainian coin with a denomination of 5 kopecks. This element introduces an additional semantic layer: the coin as a symbol of circulation, value and history turns into a talisman, an invisible support that keeps the house in balance. What usually circulates becomes the root here.

The glass case performs not only a protective, but also a conceptual function – it isolates the object from the outside world, turning it into a memory capsule, a museum relic or a fragment of a personal world that requires careful treatment.

The video of the work can be viewed here:

https://youtu.be/vz_FEAh_EZo

https://youtube.com/shorts/jR7IuJLbVxc packaging