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sculpture
June 2013
Vol. 32 No.5
A publication of theInternational Sculpture Centerwww.sculpture.org
Meeson Pae Yang
Doris Salcedo
Nari Ward
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One of the many exciting things happening at the International Sculpture
Center is the growing interest in chapter groups. This is a burgeoningsource of strength for the ISC, providing a network through which artists
and art enthusiasts can engage and collaborate at a regional level.
Chicago Sculpture International (CSI) and Texas Sculpture Group (TSG)
are current ISC chapter groups, and there is interest in new chapters
around the world. CSI promotes a supportive environment for sculp-
ture and sculptors in the Chicago area through exhibitions and public
forums. The Chicago Sculpture International Outdoor Exhibition,
shown in the citys lakefront parks, has been a highlight of the groups
achievements.
TSG supports and promotes sculptors working in Texas through net-
working, discussions, a Web presence, publications, and exhibitions.
Among the many exhibitions featuring works by TSG members is Art in
the Garden 2013 hosted by the San Antonio Botanical Garden and Blue
Star Contemporary Art Museum. This year-long event features sculptures
by members of TSG and CSI.
Both ISC chapter groups contribute in numerous ways to the expansion
and awareness of contemporary sculpture in their geographic areas.
I encourage you to read more about these groups on page 80 of this
issue.
Finally, if you are still planning a summer vacation, I would like to
suggest visiting one of the many wonderful sculpture parks or gardens
in the U.S. and around the world. Sculpture parks and gardens have
become increasingly popular destinations for art and nature lovers alike.
Please check out the must-see parks and gardens listed in this issue.
These internationally acclaimed venues, where stunning sculpturesrise from the ground like the impressive trees that surround them, are
some of the best places to experience the art of nature and the art
of culture merging together. In addition, the ISC Sculpture Parks and
Gardens Destination Directory on the ISC Web site makes it easy to search for parks and gardens all over the world
and find all the information you need.
Have a wonderful summer discovering the world of sculpture.
Marc LeBaron
Chairman, ISC Board of Trustees
From the Chairman
4 Sculpture 32.5
ISC Board of Trustees
Chairman:Marc LeBaron, Lincoln, NE
Chakaia Booker, New York, NY
Robert Edwards, Naples, FL
Jeff Fleming, Des Moines, IA
Ralfonso Gschwend, Switzerland
Carla Hanzal, Charlotte, NC
Paul Hubbard, Philadelphia, PA
Ree Kaneko, Omaha, NE
Gertrud Kohler-Aeschlimann, Switzerland
Mark Lyman, Sawyer, MI
Creighton Michael, Mt. Kisco, NY
Deedee Morrison, Birmingham, AL
Prescott Muir, Salt Lake City, UT
George W. Neubert, Brownville, NE
Andrew Rogers, AustraliaF. Douglass Schatz, Potsdam, NY
Boaz Vaadia, New York, NY
Philipp von Matt, Germany
Chairmen Emeriti: Robert Duncan, Lincoln, NE
John Henry, Chattanooga, TN
Peter Hobart, Italy
Josh Kanter, Salt Lake City, UT
Robert Vogele, Hinsdale, IL
Founder:Elden Tefft, Lawrence, KS
Lifetime Achievement in
Contemporary Sculpture Recipients
Magdalena Abakanowicz
Fletcher Benton
Fernando Botero
Louise Bourgeois
Anthony Caro
Elizabeth Catlett
John Chamberlain
Eduardo Chillida
Christo & Jeanne-Claude
Mark di Suvero
Richard HuntPhillip King
William King
Manuel Neri
Claes Oldenburg & Coosje van Bruggen
Nam June Paik
Arnaldo Pomodoro
Gi Pomodoro
Robert Rauschenberg
George Rickey
George Segal
Kenneth Snelson
Frank Stella
William Tucker
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Departments
14 Itinerary
18 Commissions
20 Forum: Laumeier Sculpture Park and the
Archaeology of Place
by Daniel McGrath
80 ISC News
Reviews
73 Richmond: Arlene Shechet
74 Denver: Katie Caron
75 Washington, DC: 40 under 40: Craft Futures
76 New York: Hijo Nam
77 Toronto: Evan Penny
77 Tel Aviv: Guy Zagursky78 Aichi Prefecture, Japan: Noe Aoki
79 Auckland, New Zealand: Summer of Sculpture
On the Cover:Meeson Pae Yang, Geodes
(detail), 2010. Silicone, cement, reflections,
mirrored Plexiglas, and mylar, 10 x 35 x 6 ft.
Photo: Gene Ogami, courtesy the artist.
Features
24 Myths of Fantastical Life: A Conversation with Meeson Pae Yang by Michal Amy
32 The Life Through Time and Space: A Conversation with Tatsuo Miyajima by Karlyn De Jongh
38 Paradise Lost: A Conversation with Anna Eyjlfsdttir by Robert Preece
44 Life Might Prevail: Doris SalcedosPlegaria Muda by Laura Tansini
50 Serendipity and Faith: A Conversation with Nari Ward by Jan Garden Castro
50
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Vol. 32 No. 5
A publication of the
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S C U L P T U R E M A G A Z I N E
Editor Glenn Harper
Managing Editor Twylene Moyer
Editorial Assistants Elena Goukassian, Amanda Hickok
Design Eileen Schramm visual communicationAdvertising Sales Manager Brenden OHanlon
Contributing Editors Maria Carolina Baulo (BuenosAires), Roger Boyce (Christchurch), Susan Canning (NewYork), Marty Carlock (Boston), Jan Garden Castro (New
York), Collette Chattopadhyay (Los Angeles), Ina Cole(London), Ana Finel Honigman (Berlin), John K. Grande(Montreal), Kay Itoi (Tokyo), Matthew Kangas (Seattle),
Zoe Kosmidou (Athens), Angela Levine (Tel Aviv), BrianMcAvera (Belfast), Robert C. Morgan (New York), RobertPreece (Rotterdam), Brooke Kamin Rapaport (New
York), Ken Scarlett (Melbourne), Peter Selz (Berkeley),Sarah Tanguy (Washington), Laura Tansini (Rome)
Each issue ofSculptureis indexed in The Art Index and
the Bibliography of the History of Art (BHA).
isc
Benefactors Circle ($100,000+)
Atlantic Foundation
Fletcher Benton
Karen & Robert Duncan
Grounds For Sculpture
John HenryJ. Seward Johnson, Jr.
Johnson Art & Education Foundation
Ree & Jun Kaneko
Joshua S. Kanter
Kanter Family Foundation
Gertrud & Heinz Kohler-Aeschlimann
Marc LeBaron
Lincoln Industries
National Endowment for the Arts
New Jersey State Council on the Arts
Mary OShaughnessy
I.A. OShaughnessy Foundation
Estate of John A. Renna
Jon & Mary Shirley Foundation
Dr. & Mrs. Robert Slotkin
Bernar Venet
Chairmans Circle ($10,00049,999)
Magdalena AbakanowiczAnonymous FoundationJanet BlockerBlue Star Contemporary Art Center
Debra Cafaro & Terrance LivingstonSir Anthony CaroChelsea College of Art & DesignChicago Arts District/Podmajersky, Inc.Clinton Family FundRichard CohenLinda & Daniel CoopermanDavid DiamondJarvis & Constance Doctorow Family FoundationGeraldine R. Dodge FoundationLin EmeryFred EychanerCarole FeuermanBill FitzGibbonsAlan GibbsGibbs Farm
Ralfonso GschwendDavid HandleyRichard HeinrichDaniel A. HendersonMichelle HobartPeter C. HobartJoyce & Seward Johnson FoundationKANEKOMary Ann KeelerKeeler FoundationPhillip KingWilliam KingAnne Kohs AssociatesNicola J. and Nanci J. Lanni FundCynthia Madden Leitner/Museum of Outdoor Arts
Toby D. Lewis Philanthropic Fund
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Barrie MowattManuel NeriNew Jersey Cultural TrustRalph OConnorFrances & Albert PaleyPatricia RenickPat Renick Gift FundHenry RichardsonMelody Sawyer RichardsonRuss RubertSalt Lake Art CenterCarol L. Sarosik & Shelley PadnosDoug SchatzMary Ellen ScherlJune & Paul Schorr, IIIJudith Shea
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that provides programming and services supported by contributions, grants,
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contributed $350 and above.
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Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park
Pew Charitable Trust
Arnaldo Pomodoro
Walter Schatz
William Tucker
Boaz Vaadia
Nadine Witkin, Estate of Isaac Witkin
Mary & John Young
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About the ISCThe International Sculpture Center is a member-supported, nonprofit organizationfounded in 1960 to champion the creation and understanding of sculpture andits unique and vital contribution to society. The mission of the ISC is to expand
public understanding and appreciation of sculpture internationally, demonstratethe power of sculpture to educate and effect social change, engage artists andarts professionals in a dialogue to advance the art form, and promote a support-ive environment for sculpture and sculptors. The ISC values: our constituentsSculptors, Institutions, and Patrons; dialogueas the catalyst to innovation andunderstanding; educationas fundamental to personal, professional, and soci-etal growth; and communityas a place for encouragement and opportunity.
MembershipISC membership includes subscriptions toSculptureand Insider; access toInternational Sculpture Conferences; free registration inPortfolio, the ISCson-line sculpture registry; and discounts on publications, supplies, and services.
International Sculpture ConferencesThe ISCs International Sculpture Conferences gather sculpture enthusiastsfrom all over the world to network and dialogue about technical, aesthetic,and professional issues.
SculptureMagazinePublished 10 times per year, Sculptureis dedicated to all forms of contemporarysculpture. The members edition includes the Insider newsletter, which containstimely information on professional opportunities for sculptors, as well as a list
of recent public art commissions and announcements of members accomplish-ments.
www.sculpture.orgThe ISCs award-winning Web siteis the most comprehensiveresource for information on sculpture. It featuresPortfolio, an on-line slideregistry and referral system providing detailed information about artists and theirwork to buyers and exhibitors; theSculpture Parks and Gardens Directory, withlistings of over 250 outdoor sculpture destinations;Opportunities, a membershipservice with commissions, jobs, and other professional listings; plus the ISCnewsletter and extensive information about the world of sculpture.
Education Programs and Special EventsISC programs include the Outstanding Sculpture Educator Award, the OutstandingStudent Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Awards, and the LifetimeAchievement Award in Contemporary Sculpture and gala. Other special eventsinclude opportunities for viewing art and for meeting colleagues in the field.
Directors Circle ($5,0009,999)
The ISCs publicationsare supported in partby a grant from theNational Endowmentfor the Arts.
This program is made possible in
part by funds from the New JerseyState Council on the Arts/Departmentof State, a Partner Agency of theNational Endowment for the Arts. New Jersey Cultural Trust
555 International Inc.Ruth AbernethyLinda Ackley-EakerD. James AdamsJohn AdduciOsman AkanKhulod AlbugamiSusan AmordeEl AnatsuiArt
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Madison UniversitySuzanne JanssenDr. Stephen JoffeJ. Johnson GalleryJulia JitkoffAndrew JordanSasa JovicWolfram KaltRay KatzCorneliaKavanaghRobert E. KellyLita KelmensonOrest KeywanHeechan KimHitoshi KimuraStephen KishelBernard KlevickasAdriana KorkosKrasl ArtCenterMako KratohvilJon KrawczykDave & Vicki KrecekKUBOLynn E. LaCountWon LeeMichael Le GrandEvan LewisJohn R. LightKen Light
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Richard Moore, IIIThomas MorrisonKeld MoseholmW.W. MuellerAnnaMurchMorley MyersArnold NadlerMarina NashNathan ManilowSculpture ParkNatures CirclesJames NickelDonald NoonMichelle
OsbourneJoseph OConnellMichelle OMichaelPalmyra Sculpture CentreRalph H. PaquinRonald ParksMark PattersonCarol PeligianBeverly
PepperCathy & Troy PerryAnne & Doug PetersonDirk PetersonJeanJacques PorretDaniel PostellonBev PreciousLaura PriebeJonathan QuickKimberly RadochiaMarcia RaffVicky RandallStephen RautenbachMaureen ReardonJeannette ReinRoger ReutimannRobert Webb SculptureGarden/Creative Arts GuildKevin RobbSalvatore RomanoGale Fulton RossRichard RothTom ScarffPeter SchifrinSculpture Space, Inc.Joseph H.
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14 Sculpture 32.5
BALL
OU:PIERCEJACKSON,
BROOKLYNMUSEUM
/JOHNSON:FREDRIKN
ILSENSTUDIO,2013,
COURTESYBALLROOM
MARFA/COOLQUITT:CO
URTESYLISACOOLEY,NY
Ballroom Marfa
Marfa, TexasRashid Johnson
Through July 7, 2013
Johnsons installations, sculptures,
photographs, and videos offer deep
meditations on the phenomena that
shape African American culture
while questioning any uniformity
in the black experience. Wading
through dense thickets of reference
and information, he blends personal
and historically loaded objects
(books, album covers, and shea
butter) into complicated aggregates
that defy taxonomy and confound
collective identity. Beginning with
the question, What would happen
if Sun Ra, George Washington Carver,
and Robert Smithson started acommunity together in the desert?
New Growth playfully intertwines
cosmology, escapism, and irrigation
in order to redraw the past, present,
and future of the desert around
Marfa. Newly commissioned works
include a large-scale sculpture and
videoboth produced in situ
as well as paintings, works in wood,
and island-like installations.
Tel: 432.729.3600
Web site
Blaffer Gallery, University of
Houston
Houston
Andy Coolquitt
Through August 24, 2013
Scavenging the streets for remnants
of human activity, Coolquitt trans-
forms debris such as metal tubing,
plastic lighters, empty bottles,
drinking straws, and paper bags
into humble monuments to transient
existences and temporary encounters
in public space. Though his materials
are drawn from the exterior world,
they also express an interior life that
humanizes homelessness. Indivi-
dual sculptures and groupings imply
a sense of domesticity, whetherthrough association or function
providing light, warmth, and other
physical comforts. For his first solo
museum exhibition, Coolquitt has
recombined 60 discrete sculptures
and tableaux into a new installation
that reflects on the gallery as a codi-
fied place of interaction for people
and artworks. The show also includes
a selection of somebody-mades
and in-betweens, works that strad-
dle the line between autonomoussculptures and unaltered appropria-
tions. These quasi-artworks further
complicate the relationship
between creation and reception,
artist and audience, blurring the
boundaries of art and life.
Tel: 713.743.2255
Web site
Brooklyn Museum
Brooklyn
Michael Ballou
Through July 7, 2013
For the eighth installment of the
Raw/Cooked series, Ballou, a
Williamsburg-based multimedia
artist whose work incorporates sculp-
ture, performance, and collaboration,has created three interconnected
installations exploring the behavior
and inner lives of animals.Dog Years,
a monumental construction of more
than 30 sculptures modeled on ani-
mals of his acquaintance, occupies
the Decorative Arts galleries.Go-Go
enlivens the fifth-floor elevator lobby
with a mobile puppet suspended
from the ceiling, ambient music, and
the play of projected light and shad-
ows. AndPencil Holdersresponds tothe Luce Visible Storage/Study Cen-
ter. Drawn to theWunderkammer-
quality of this treasure house, Ballou
added several of his own ceramic
sculptures, accompanied by six fic-
tional contributions by authors
Stephanie Barber, David Brody, James
Hannaham, Kurt Hoffman, Helen
Phillips, and Matthew Sharpe (all
accessible by QR code).
Tel: 718.638.5000
Web site
itinerary
Left: Michael Ballou, detail of work
in progress. Above: Rashid Johnson,
installation view of New Growth.
Right: Andy Coolquitt, chair w/
paintings.
http://www.ballroommarfa.org/http://www.class.uh.edu/blafferhttp://www.brooklynmuseum.org/http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/http://www.class.uh.edu/blafferhttp://www.ballroommarfa.org/ -
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Sculpture June 2013 15
Frederik Meijer Gardens and
Sculpture Park
Grand Rapids
Zhang Huan
Through August 25, 2013
Zhang Huan began his career withcontroversial performances that
tested his physical endurance and
pushed the limits of acceptability in
post-Tiananmen China. After moving
to New York in 1998, he staged
photographs as performances and
enacted large-scale events, often
involving scores of volunteers.
Several years ago, his work took
another turn when he established
a studio in a former Shanghai gar-
ment factory and began to producemonumental sculptures. These sug-
gestive and forceful works, made
from bronze, incense ash, and found
materials from the Chinese country-
side, reflect on the historical legacy
of Buddhism and its place in the
modern world. Looking East, Facing
West follows his personal journey
through photographic and sculptural
works from the last 15 years.
Tel: 888.957.1580
Web site
Gemeentemuseum
The Hague
Yes Naturally
Through August 16, 2013
Yes Naturally raises the question
of what is natural. Are human beingsthe only ones with a say, or do ani-
mals, plants, and inanimate objects
also have a role to play? From
clichd images of romantic land-
scapes to the inescapable facts
of environmental degradation, this
large-scale exhibition offers a tour
of the natural world from a variety of
unusual perspectives. Works by more
than 80 artists, including Francis Als,
Jimmie Durham, Olafur Eliasson,
Fischli & Weiss, Natalie Jeremijenko,Marjetica Potrc, Atelier van Lieshout,
Zeger Reyers, Superflex, and Ai
Weiwei, establish surprising partner-
ships of humanity, nature, and tech-
nology. The results are both liberat-
ing and hilarious: you can design
your own pet and harvest th e ci ty;
your smartphone is your memory,
Facebook your habitat, and the
Internet the new biotope. In keeping
with its extra-human spirit, Yes
Naturally moves beyond the walls
of culture, spreading outdoors to the
museum grounds, the dune forest,
and into the city, with urban wildlife
safaris, performances, workshops,
and public programs, supplemented
by social media and on-line forums.
Tel: + 31 (0) 70 3381111
Web site
Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg
Wolfsburg, Germany
Christian Boltanski
Through July 21, 2013
Few artists dance with death like
Boltanski. Though he is best known
for emotionally intense installations
that conjure the tragedy of World
War II concentration camps, his true
interest lies in the fact of dying. In
his recent workfollowing a bizarrebet with MONA founder David
Walshthe universal becomes per-
sonal, and thematic interest
becomes imbedded in his own skin,
tied to his own life expectancy.
Transgressing this last taboo means
nothing to an artist who follows the
example of Lucretius and refuses
to fear or cheat his way out of lifes
inevitable outcome: It is not
melancholic, but felicitous when you
accept death. It makes everymoment great, more important, and
happier. This show of recent work
connecting life and death focuses
on a new, kinetic interpretation of
theMenschlich (Human)archive. In
Spirit(s), transparent renderings of
the archival subjects (some living;
some deceased) drift on air currents,
coming briefly into focus, overlap-
ping, then fading again in homage
to our two-part finale in which physi-
cal ending is followed by immaterial
disappearancean equally eternal
erasure of image and memory.
Tel: + 49 (0) 5361 2669 0
Web site
Left: Keith Edmier and Victoria Regia,
First Night Bloom, from Yes Nat-
urally. Right: Zhang Huan, Long
Island Buddha. Bottom right:Christian Boltanski, Last second.
EDM
IERANDREGIA:RICHARDDEBRUIJN,
COURTESYTHEARTISTS/ZHANG
HUAN:COURTESYPACEGALLERY/BOLTANSKI:
FILIPEBRAGA,
COU
RTESYFUNDAODESERRALVESMUSEUDEARTECONTEMPORNEA,
PORTO,
VGBILD-KUNST,
BONN2013
http://www.meijergardens.org/http://www.gemeentemuseum.nl/http://www.kunstmuseum-wolfsburg.de/http://www.kunstmuseum-wolfsburg.de/http://www.gemeentemuseum.nl/http://www.meijergardens.org/ -
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16 Sculpture 32.4
Kunstverein Mnchen
Munich
Rebecca Warren
Through June 16, 2013
Ranging from the amorphous to the
recognizable, Warrens sculptures
have opened brash new possibilities
for form, material, and subject
matter. Taking one of the most tra-
ditional subjects in art historythefemale nudeshe subverts inherited,
male-defined clichs, while simul-
taneously questioning the formal
aspects of sculpturewhat it
should be and what it should look
like. The key to her inspired trans-
gressions, which result in rough,
distorted, unfinished or damaged-
looking sculptures, lies in the
malleability and freedom of clay. Left
unfired, spontaneous gestures and
improvised formal risk-taking con-tinue to breathe life into her awk-
ward compositions; not yet resolved,
still capable of change, these works
maintain the freshness of sketches,
multiplying into dynamic groups
that blend shrewdly intelligent art
historical and social insight with an
emotional appeal that resonates on
a much more basic level.
Tel: + 49 (0) 89-221 152
Web site
Muse du Quai Branly
Paris
The Philippines: Archipelago of
Exchange
Through July 14, 2013
The Quai Branlys mottowhere
cultures converseexpresses
a sentiment that dates back to its
venerable antecedents, the Muse
de lHomme and Muse des Arts
Africains et Ocaniens. Building on
the idea that unexpected artistic
directions emerge when diverse peo-
ples cross paths, it brings together
(non-Western) artifacts from across
time and space and sets them into
motion in a contemporary context.
Though not without its critics, such
a commitment to exchange is more
pressing than ever in todays increas-ingly interdependent and divided
world. Archipelago of Exchange
focuses on one particularly rich and
relatively obscure area of cross-fer-
tilizationthe strategically located
islands of the Philippines. More
than 300 pre-colonial workssculp-
ture, pottery, textiles, and personal
ornamentsreveal a rich and open
visual culture that extended from
prehistoric times, through succes-
sive waves of Austronesian peoplesbringing Malay, Indian, Indonesian,
Arab, and Chinese influences, to the
arrival of Magellan in 1521. Though
reminiscent of stylistically pure
works from larger centers, these
hybrid productions break with canon-
ical types to become something
entirely their own.
Tel: + 33 (0) 1 56 61 70 00
Web site
Museum of Contemporary Art
Chicago
Amalia Pica
Through August 11, 2013
Using sculpture, film, and installa-
tion, Pica explores the goals of
enunciation and the performative
nature of thought. She has a partic-
ular fascination with communica-
tion breakdown: for instance, works
based on deaf monologues and
halting conversations talk about
inadequacies in our ability to make
contacta point taken to absurd
heights in a semaphore performance
in which she spells out babble,
blabber, and yada yada yada. Her
often participatory projects directly
intervene in public life, staging and
condensing moments of culturalintimacy and civic participation. This
show, which includes recent perfor-
mance, sculptural, and film works,
also features the new nomadic
sculptureI am Tower of Hamlets, as
I am in Tower of Hamlets , which
Chicago-area residents may borrow
and take care of for a week before
returning.
Tel: 312.280.2660
Web site
Nasher Sculpture Center
Dallas
Nathan Mabry
Through July 7, 2013
Inspired by everything from archae-
ology and ethnology to Dada, Sur-
realism, and icons of Modernism,
Mabry crashes different aesthetics
together to form bizarre, sometimes
unsettling, conflations that stymie
criticality. When Roman sculpture
(Romulus and Remus with the she-
Left: Ritual sculpture, from The
Philippines. Above: Rebecca Warren,
Croccioni.Top right: Amalia Pica,
Stabile (with confetti).
PHILIPPINES:CLAUDEGERMAIN,
MUSEDUQUAIBRANLY/WARREN:
REBECCAWARREN,
COURTESYMAUREENPALEY,LONDON/PICA:GU
NNARMEIERFORKUNSTHALLESANKTGALLEN,
COURTESYTHEARTIST
ANDMARCFOXXGALLERY,LOSANGELES
http://www.kunstverein-muenchen.de/http://www.quaibranly.fr/http://www.mcachicago.org/http://www.mcachicago.org/http://www.quaibranly.fr/http://www.kunstverein-muenchen.de/ -
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itinerary
Sc l ture 2013
CHR
COURTES
CENTERFORHISTORICALREENACT
ENTS,
JOHANNESBUR
PAIK:COURTES
SMITHSONIAN
ERICAN
ARTMUSEUM
MABR
Y
NATH
NMA
RY,
COURTESYCHER
ND
ARTIN
olf) collides with African basketry
a d contemporary unk la
ausc en erg, anything is possi le:
ning an va ue e a e,
and interpretation murky. Sincere
or cynical, profoundly deep or
aughingly superficial, these mash-
ups nevertheless possess he power
o move as we as confou .
poi , um r us, r itica ,
and admiring, they capture the ambi-alent, constantly changing nature
of our relationship o the cultural
as . Ma rys out oor Sig ings
i tal atio ea ur n wor
ased on an ancient Jalisco figure
in the Nasher Collection, in addition
oProcess Art (B-E-A G-G-R-E-S-S-I-V E),
a mons rous me amorphosis of
o insBurg o Ca ais.
Tel: 214.242.5100
Web site
New Museum
N Yo
C nter for Historical Reenactm nts
rough Jul 17 2013
CHR, an independent Johannesburg-
ase group of artis s, cura ors,
an riter , s ou e in
in response to rapid, and unequal,
development in South Africa. Taking
a unique approach to social prob-
ems, its projects focused on historic
events and sites, particularly rom
the apar heid era, o investiga e
i orica con ex an explore o
e unc i logi s intain eir
grip on social systems. For After-after Tears, CHR members Do na
Kukama, Gabi Ngcobo, and emang
a Le u ere ave eve ope a m -
tifa e i iti n a he
life of he group and i s operational
strategies, most notably he deci-
sion to commit an institu ional
dea h in 2012 in order o forestall
inevita e evo u io rom x eri-
mental latfo m to formal organiza
tion. The gallery presentation eluci
dates CHRs working philosophy ofsubversion, mediation, and transver-
sa processes, w ile per ormances
an pu ic r s uture
activitiesall geared toward open-
ing up discussions about the art
system, insti utional mechanisms,
an e comp exity o re ations ips
wi hi o r s
Tel: 212.219.1222
eb site
Smithsonian American Art
Museum
W shingto , DC
N m June Paik
Thr ugh August 11, 2013
Vi r is , , s ,
and new media sculpture visionary,
Paik was one of the most innovative
artis s of he 20th century, counter-ing doomsday Future Shock pre
monitions it wi y an umanize
en erings n o y. More
than 0 years ago, he saw the sig-
nificance (and dangers) of V and
rapid communication and devoted
the es of is career o proving that
y o r
and enslave. A student of commer-
cial and ideological forces, he
upended ap ropriated imagery (and
its delivery de ices), turning propa-
gan is ic pab um into a ca for
in i is nc In he c s,
he transformed t e video image
into a tool capable o rede ining t e
parameters of sculpture and instal-
lation. This survey, the irst in a
ri o i i i raw t
artists archive (acquired by SAAM
in 2009), features more than 65
works, including key loans from Ger-many, whe e Paik was an influential
mem er o F s, an more an
4 it s r i rc i . Toget r,
these selections offer an unprece-
dented glimpse into his creative
methodan appropriate approach
o an innova or w o never ystifie
is io s.
Tel: 202.633.7970
Web site
Above: Cen er for His orical Reenac -
men s, a Ku Randza. Top right:
Selec ed objec s from the am ne
a k ar h ve. igh Nathan Mabry,
ro ess Art ( -E-A-G-G-R-E-S-S-I-V-E).
Jun
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http://www.nashersculpturecenter.org/http://www.newmuseum.org/http://www.americanart.si.edu/http://www.americanart.si.edu/http://www.newmuseum.org/http://www.nashersculpturecenter.org/ -
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H J H
Bread Army
Paris
For several years now, Hermann Josef Hack has been working in
an unusual mediumbread. Inspired by the seasonal appearance
ofWeckmnner(traditional German sweetbread people) in bakeriesover the winter holidays, the artist-activist decided to give these
otherwise benign childrens treats a political purpose. Hack started
organizing Weckmnner demonstrations on the streets of Cologne,
with the little bread people holding up signs in German reading,
Art collector, where did all your money come from? and Art =
Capital, Artist = Capitalist. The project has grown over the years
to include bread bombs strapped to trees and telephone poles and
bread tanks roaming the streets. In one instance, Hack strapped
baguettes to himself under a trench coat, like a suicide bread
bomber, and stood in a public squar e. The Bread Armys most
recent assault, in Paris last February, started with tanks parachuting
into the city before making their way to the Eiffel Tower, Arc
de Triomphe, and Centre Pompidou, while bread bombs appeared
menacingly on trees. Despite its successful invasion, theBreadArmyultimately lost the battle, defeated by Parisian pigeons.
Hack uses humor very intelligently: I find humor and games
important in order to gain peoples sympathy, he explains.
People in a good mood are much more likely to connect with the
artwork. Hacks public interventions have addressed a wide variety
of issues, from global warming to the ridiculousness of the art
world. With Bread Army, the subject at stake was food justice.
Hack likes to point out the absurdly tragic irony of a world in
which some people die of hunger while others suffer from obesity.
He equates his use of breadits stale by the time he gets to it
to Christian symbolism, sharing, and charity. As a form of suste-
nance, his bread sculptures attract not only pigeons, but also
homeless people. The artist says that this is all part of the project.
18 Sculpture 32.5
LEFT:COURTESYTHEARTIST/RIGHT:DANIELLLUGANY,COURTESYTHEAR
TISTS
commissionscommissions
Left: Hermann Josef Hack, Bread Army, 2013. Bread and glazed ceramic, 2
views of project in Paris. Above: Octavi Serra, Mateu Targa, Daniel Llugany,
and Pau Garcia,Hands, 2013. Chalk, 30 x 12 x 15 cm. each. 3 views of project
in Barcelona.
-
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Like his old teacher Joseph Beuys, Hack seeks to reclaim publicspace, both physically and politically. The intention of his work?
Only art can save us now.
O S, M T, D L,
P G
Hands
Barcelona
Spain hasnt been doing well lately. After taking a hard hit from the
financial crisis, news items devoted to increased unemployment
(now over 50 percent for young people and 25 percent over all),
evictions, emigration, and suicides have become all too familiar. In
March, following the banking debacle in Cyprus that led to nation-
wide bank runs and empty ATMs, a new Spanish mattress com-
pany was announcedone that made mattresses with built-in
strongboxes.
Spanish artists have taken this mayhem as both inspiration and a
call to arms. In Barcelona last February, Octavi Serra, Mateu Targa,
Daniel Llugany, and Pau Garcia joined together to cast chalk hands
and install them throughout the old city center. Scattered along the
famed Passeig de Grcia, the Plaa de Catalunya, and other popular
areas, the hands hold nooses above bank doors, dig for change in
payphones, and try to break into closed shop shutters with crow-
bars. The deliberate placement ofHandsin the most touristed
areasincluding in front of Gaud buildingsunderscore the
artists intention to engage an international audience. In one case,
a hand juts out of a wall, palm up and begging for alms, with a
cardboard sign reading Help Spain (in English) underneath.
As passersby notice the hands, taking pictures of them on their
phones, Barcelonans and tourists alike are playfully reminded
of the regions ailing economy.
The artists tongue-in-cheek humor extends to their own self-
characterization. All of them work in the field of visual arts, they
write on the project Web site, and love the way actual and past
politicians are doing their job. In a country where unemployment
has reached levels last seen under Francos military dictatorship
in the 1940s, Handsserves as a darkly humorous warning of the
dangers faced by individuals left to navigate a dire situation ontheir own.
R L-H
Open Air
Philadelphia
For a few weeks last fall, Philadelphias iconic Benjamin Franklin
Parkway was transformed into a laser lightshow. From City Hall
to the Philadelphia Art Museum, 24 searchlights danced in the sky
every night to the tune of recorded messages from local residents.
Over the course of Rafael Lozano-Hemmers Open Airproject, more
than 5,000 people recorded 30-second messages, including mar-
riage proposals, amateur DJ mixes, declarations of love and politics,
and lots of poems. Of course, no laser show would be complete
without renditions of Led Zeppelin and Journey songs, but the
most striking voice messages came from children talking about
their daily lives; in one extremely sad case, a young girl apologized
to her parents for causing their divorce. A techie at heart, Lozano-
Hemmer designed this intricate project to include not only voice
messages and lasers, but also smartphone apps and a Web site,
where anyone could record messages, listen to others record-
ings, and view live, recorded, or Google Earth renditions of how
these were transcribed by the lasers.
Open Airserved as a new portal for free speech in the city where
the Constitution was signed. Yet as much as the project celebrates
free speech, it also raises questions about privacy in the digital age.After all, searchlights and the Internet both have roots in military
surveillance. On the one hand, I give the seduction of participa-
tion, the idea that you are in the limelight, Lozano-Hemmer told
Phawkerin an interview last October, but there is also a violent
aspect in all of my projects. And that comes in because the desire
to participate and to have interactivity cannot be divorced from
the desire to police people and to control them. For the record,
Lozano-Hemmer refused to censor any recorded messages.
Elena Goukassian
Sculpture June 2013 19
Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Open Air, 2012. Xenon 10kW robotic searchlights,
Turbulent Heap content manager, webcams, Linux servers, GPS, Google Earth
3D DMX interface, iPhones, custom-software, and cloud computing and stor-
age, interactive area: 1 mile. 2 views of project in Philadelphia.
Juries are convened each month to select works for Commissions. Information on recently completed commissions, along with high-resolution
digital images (300 dpi at 4 x 5 in. minimum), should be sent to: Commissions, Sculpture, 1633 Connecticut Avenue NW, 4th Floor, Washington,
DC 20009. E-mail .JAMESEWING,
COURTESYTHEARTIST
____________
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected] -
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Laumeier Sculpture Park in St.
Louis, perhaps the American
Midwests premiere sculpturepark, is taking on a new iden-
tity, trading the familiar and
accessible for the experimental
and engaged. Curators there
have recently re-energized the
exhibition program in a bold
attempt to recontextualize pub-
lic sculpture, organizing two
shows (so far) under the banner
archaeology of place. Explor-
ing life both far afield and close
to home, Camp Out and
Living Proposal introduced
new sculptural practices into
the park while providing active
platforms for contemplationand learning.
The catalogue forCamp Out:
Finding Home in an Unstable
World, a 2012 group exhibi-
tion, declared a far-ranging
interest in housing conditions
from earthquake ravaged Haiti
to flooded Pakistan, then
turned its attention to urban
blight in America, made worse
by economic meltdown. Thats
a lot of ground to cover for
any show, and differences in
approach and opinion were
inevitable. Seen together, the
selected sculptures manifestedan intergenerational duel of
methodologies in which aes-
thetic conflict reflected wider
political crises.
The contrast between Dr
Wapenaars Treetent(2005),
a large teardrop-shaped shelter
strapped to a tree 12 feet off
the ground, and Oliver Bishop-
Youngs High Rise (2012), a
dumpster filled with a city made
of neatly arranged, salvaged
shelves and equally neat stacks
of chopped branches, is telling.
Treetent(designed well before
the 2008 stock market crash)
is a luxury tent-cum-sculpture.
The 600-pound pod, fabricated
from heavy weatherized can-
vas wrapped around a steel
armature, does not look cheap.
The cozy interior boasts pol-
ished floorboards, and plastic
windows offer views to the
20 Sculpture 32.5
SHAUNALVEY
Oliver Bishop-Young,High Rise, 2012.
Construction dumpster and mixed
media, dimensions variable. FromCamp Out.
Laumeier Sculpture Park and the Archaeology of Place
by Daniel McGrath
-
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outside.Treetentwas originally
designed for the Road Alert
Group, tree-hugger activists
who chain themselves to trees,but campground owners quick-
ly adopted it and turned it into
a commercial success. The
work typifies a comfortable
middle class able to afford acts
of ecological protest and camp-
ing holidays that have nothing
to do with bare survival.
Bishop-Youngs High Rise, on
the other hand, consists of a
monumental pile of detritus
worthy of Arte Povera.
Designed to house critters, the
converted dumpster looks like
the product of a union between
Noahs Ark and a beached
Carnival cruise ship. It arrests
and startles, while engaging
in a good-humored joke at the
expense of permanent monu-
ments.High Risewill rot over
time, but that disintegration
wont prevent it from serving
as an insulated haven for hiber-
nating animals during St.
Louiss harsh winters (the work
remains on view). Bishop-
Youngs other works include
dumpsters as ping-pong tables
and swimming pools, but this
effort moves beyond design
gimmicks into a formal dia-
logue with the Judds and
LeWitts that dot Laumeiers
grounds. By raising ontological
questions about sculpture in a
perilous time of budget cuts forthe arts, this anti-monument
echoes Shelleys Ozymandias:
Look on my works, ye Mighty,
and despair!
This divergence of approach,
as evident in the catalogue as it
was in the show itself, set an
established generation of artists
(with stable careers, tenure, and
mortgages) against a group of
relative unknowns whose cir-
cumstances probably necessi-
tate a good bit of roughing it.
Emily Speeds hilariousInhabi-
tant (St. Louis)(2012), an
impractical yet wearable suit
in the shape of a city, suggests
the involuntary nomadism and
imploded futures that more for-
tunate people can contemplate
from a safe distance. There was
a notable dichotomy between
cynical youth and contented
good intentions. Kim YasudasHunt and Gather(2012), for
instance, an allotment farm that
provided Laumeier with herbs,
vegetables, and a small supply
of free-range eggs laid in a spe-
cially built coop, followed the
fashion for boutique organic
food.
The intergenerational instabil-
ity was best illustrated by the
disconnect betweenLe Bcher
(The Burning Stake, 2010),
by the up-and-coming collective
Sculpture June 2013 21
SHAU
NALVEY
Above: Dr Wapenaar, Treetent,
2005. Canvas, wood, and powder-
coated steel, dimensions variable.
Right: BGL,Le Bcher, 2010. Plexi-
glas and acrylic, 96 x 108 x 72 in.
Both works from Camp Out.
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BGL (Montreal-based Jasmin
Bilodeau, Sbastien Gigure,
and Nicolas Laverdire) and
Michael Rakowitzs paraSITE
(2012).Le Bcherconsists of an
oversized faux fire made from
cut sheets of Plexiglas stacked
in luminous layers and exhib-
ited in an interior gallery.
The visual warmth was nothing
more than a cold illusion, a fire
without heat, bleak without
expecting sympathy. Just out-
side,paraSITEbillowed in thewarm exhaust of an air condi-
tioner. A DIY tent made from
taped-together shopping bags,
complete with instructions,
it inflated like a balloon in the
heated air. Was this inflatable
acri de coeurabout homeless-
ness, or was it supposed to be
a sustainable solution intended
for actual use? During the exhi-
bition, children repeatedly
stomped onparaSITE, tearing
it to shreds. Their vandalism
revealed the impractical nature
of such a structurepresum-
ably Rakowitz is aware of the
problem and is satisfied with
optimistic intent.
Another exhibition, JuanChvezs Living Proposal:
Pruitt-Igoe Bee Sanctuary,
moved the politics of shelter
even closer to home. Photo-
graphs documenting Neolithic
cave paintings of beekeepers,
secondhand bee suits, Super 8
films of overgrown shrubs,
reclaimed hives, and giant tele-
graph poles joined together in a
multidisciplinary investigation
into the history and legacy
of St. Louis Pruitt-Igoe towers.
Designed by Minoru Yamasaki
(architect of the World Trade
Center) and completed in 1956,
the Pruitt-Igoe housing projectbecame notorious for its
poverty, crime, and segregation.
When the 33 buildings were
finally demolished, they were
laid to rest with Charles
Jenckss widely quoted epitaph:
Modern Architecture died
in St. Louis, Missouri, on July
15th, 1972 at 3:32 pm or there-
abouts. The site was then
abandoned and left as a bram-
ble patch wasteland, every
attempt at planning permission
contested by hostile real estate
developers. A new IKEA or a
maximum-security prison? Not
so fast. Chvez would have the
land reserved for the honeybees
that he discovered living there
in thriving colonies, promising
a ready supply of St. Louis-
made honey.Untitled (Sacred Real Estate)
(2012), the largest work in
Living Proposal, resurrected
the ghost of this hopeless era
in civic values. Assembled from
14 recycled lampposts arranged
in a 1:1 scale footprint of a sin-
gle tower block,Untitledalso
replicated the form of a Native
American henge, specifically
the Mississippian Woodhenge
in Cahokia, Illinois. The allu-
sion coyly jabs at a more recent-
ly collapsed society on the St.
Louis side of the Mississippi
Jim Crow segregation and
the subsequently botched civil-
rights-era desegregation.
22 Sculpture 32.5
TOP:
COURTESYLAUMEIERSCULPTUREPARK/BOTTOM:SHAUNALVEY
Above: Emily Speed,Inhabitant (St.
Louis), 2012. Cardboard, electrical
tape, and acrylic, dimensions vari-
able. From Camp Out. Right: Juan
William Chvez,Untitled (Sacred
Real Estate), 2012. 14 lampposts,
36 x 134 ft.
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While Pruitt-Igoes calamitousracial, political, and demo-
graphic troubles spawned a vast
amount of ponderous scholar-
ship and attracted much do-
gooder attention, Chavezs pro-
ject proved to be a revelation.
Untitleds juxtaposition of mod-
ern and prehistoric construction
came to life when seen on
Laumeiers great field in front
of Alexander Libermans red
behemothThe Way(1980). The
interplay of Chvezs mottled
wood and Libermans salvaged
steel bookended the successes
and failures that have charac-
terized this place back to time
immemorial. The city itselfseems to be cursed, built on
Indian mounds unceremoni-
ously demolished by develop-
ers in the 1850s.
Housed in a residential exhi-
bition space, the rest of
Chvezs objects breezily told a
story of how, millennia ago, a
hive of bees in the attic gave the
house an endless pot of honey
(Collective Alchemy, a pot of
actual honey) but are now, in
our upside-down world, count-
ed as hazardous pests. Anti-
monumental and domesticated,
like the city and like Laumeier
itself,Living Proposal (Sculp-
ture) represented a seeminglyunderused zone teeming with
life. Here, empty bee boxes
and bee suits stood in for tow-
ers and tenants, while the pho-
tographs of tree blossoms in33
buildings 11 stories (flower)
showed how beauty can flower
in the wake of Modernism.
Why not let entropy take hold
instead of building more box
stores that will be abandoned?
For 35 years, Laumeier
Sculpture Park has played a
leading role in exploring the
interrelationships connecting
art, history, and culture. These
recent exhibitions demon-
strated a strong commitmentto relevance, taking on press-
ing issues through engaging,
provocative sculpture. As the
curators continue to use the
park as a laboratory for a range
of artistic practices, we can
expect new works, both tem-
porary and permanent, to offer
fresh perspectives on place
and life.
Daniel McGrath is a writer
living in St. Louis.
Sculpture June 2013 23
Juan William Chvez,Pruitt-Igoe Bee
Sanctuary: The Living Proposal, 2012.
C-print, 22 x 23 in.
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BY MICHAL AMY
Submerge, 2012. Urethane, Plexiglas,
and reflections, 12 x 45 x 95 in.COURTESY
THEARTIST
MYTHS OFFANTASTICAL LIFE
A Conversation with
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Meeson Pae Yang understands the power of repetition. While
one tree seen in isolation can be an object of breathtaking
beauty, a cluster offers a very different visual and emotional
experience, built up of the variations that occur across species,
the contracting and expanding spaces between forms, and the
fragmentation of light and ensuing tonal variationsallresulting in a shifting, almost breathing pattern of interactions.
Significantly, Yang uses synthetic materials more often than
not to allude to principles found in nature at large, as well as
within our own bodies. Her forms may appear to float, evoking
organisms in water, blood, air, or the cosmos (Pods, 2010;
Biomes, 2009;Traverse, 2009), or they may remain anchored
to the floor, like stones rolled into spheres by a river and now
languishing in puddles, where they sprout algae-like accretions
(Geodes, 2010). Yangs constructions look back to the building
blocks of life, as well as forward into our future.
Michal Amy:You came to art at an unusual point in
your life. Could you explain how this happened?
Meeson Pae Yang:In 1998, my younger brother was
diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma. He died
shortly afterwards, at the age of 15. After high school,
I went to UCLA. I was struggling with the idea of loss,
without being able to register what I was feeling, and
having a terribly difficult time making sense of it all.I started studying English literature and then moved
on to sociology. I was clearly in limbo. As I was working
through my loss and pain, I discovered that I could
barely communicate how I felt. I could not convey my
internal struggle, and so I began to make tangible
things. I bought some paint and clay. That was my first
attempt at making art.
MA:Were these early works expressionistic?
MPY:I wasnt at all sure what I was doing. I didnt
know how to use the materials. I wanted to see if I
could figure out what was happening inside me by
expressing it through an external object, so thatI could step back and look at it. In my second year of
college, I decided to apply to the art department, but
I needed a portfolio of 12 images for admission. I had
no artistic background, and so I abandoned the idea.
One week before the application was due, however, I
suddenly felt that I needed to go ahead with it and
managed to make 12 workswithout any sleep and
through sheer determination. I submitted my portfolio
and, amazingly enough, was accepted. I faced a
steep learning curve, since I was introduced to art
history, materials, and conceptual processes for the
first time. I explored concepts pertaining to the body,
cellular forms, and decay, which were directly related
26 Sculpture 32.5
Above and detail:Index, 200506. Plexiglas, vacuum-sealed
packaging, sucrose solution, vinyl tubing, and silicone in outdoor
steel and glass display case, 6.5 x 9.5 x 3 ft.
COURTESYTHEARTIST
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to my brothers illness. I was looking at Kiki Smith and
Eva Hesse, who still influences my thinking.
After UCLA, I took a class at a local community col-
lege because I felt that I needed to improve my tech-
nical skills. I took a sculpture class at El Camino Col-
lege, where Professor Russell McMillin gave me the
opportunity to show work in an outdoor display case.
It was just a rectangular box of glass and stainless steel
with fluorescent lighting; it looked terribly clinical, but
it led to my first site-responsive installation. I planned a
piece featuring individual elements that came together
to form a larger unit.
MA:Does this approach to making sculpture come from
Eva Hesse?
MPY: It does. Forms are serially repeated in Hesses
work, and she explored the transparency and delicacyof materials. I was intrigued by her use of industrial
materials that become organic, like living tissue.
MA:Hesse also used tubes. Do the tubes and suspended
bags inIndexgo back to your brothers illness?
MPY:I had never been inside a hospital before. Once
my brother became ill, I was exposed to tubes, probes,
needles, and IV bagsmy brothers illness has a defi-
nite relationship toIndex. I still use a lot of tubes,
but they no longer literally translate medical devices.
Instead, they represent movement, transportation, and
connections between points in space. I find the trans-
lucency of the tubes, and how they filter light, mes-
merizing. They link a beginning and an end. They also
reference veins running through leaves and our bodies, networks, freeways,
and industrya constant flow. Indexmarks a definite turning point in mywork, with death and decay transformed into the potential for life. It refer-
ences how nature uses systems to ensure reproduction and growth.
MA:How did you decide on the title?
MPY: An index is a structured sequence that groups scattered concepts
together succinctly and illuminates an authors message. It provides a syn-
thesized access point to the information contained within a text. A system
of this sort allows you to establish relationships between different concepts
by breaking data down into parts. In Index, I examined the basic structure of
life, namely the cell, as a container of information. Cells come together to
form a living organism and are organized and separated by their function,
just as words and ideas come together to form text and are organized and
sorted by the index. Indexing is about drawing connections from disparate
parts; its about smaller units creating a whole.
Sculpture June 2013 27
COURTESY
THE
ARTIST
Above and detail:Disperson, 2008. Preserved moss, silicone, and
acrylic, 10 x 52 x 12 ft.
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Indexmade me discover what I was doing, what
my practice related to, and what I was interested in.
My previous work was about processing the past,
experimenting with materials, and constructing things.
BeforeIndex, I was mostly interested in the body and
its fragility. I was making tumor-like formations by
twisting, bandaging, and burning foam and latex.
WithIndex, I entered new territory.
MA: Is your work improvised, or do you
begin with one or more drawings based
on a fixed idea?
MPY:I begin work in different ways, but itis always a very organic process. I start with
a rough sketch on a Post-It or napkin. Once
I have my sketch, I gather materials and
combine and rearrange them in different
ways. Then, my process becomes very
physical, because I need to see the work
in three dimensions to verify whether the
materials and form make sense. This part
involves intuition and metaphor, taking
information, systems, and structures from
nature and transposing them on to my
materials. Oftentimes, a word will trigger
something, which will lead me to certain
associations and guide me toward certain
materials. I keep a log of words that set
off strong visuals in my mind, and I go back
to these words in order to build visual asso-
ciations. Part of my process involves finding
interesting materials. I occasionally stum-
ble on things when walking through Asian
marketsall sorts of dried mushrooms,
roots, and seeds. I also find materials in
tide pools, forests, industrial warehouses,
medical supply stores, cosmetic stores, and
craft and hobby shopspretty much any-
where. I start with small experiments
or prototypes. I have a box of what I call
do-dads, which are small sculptures in
which I try out materialssomewhat like
Eva Hesses studio pieces. Once I feel that
an idea has jelled, I move forward. The next
step seems mechanized, because from this
point, I work as though I were standing on
an assembly line. I make multiples and
variations on these multiples to create an
immersive field or environment. I see all
of my works as being interconnected. Iam creating an ecology or cosmology in
which all of the pieces interact and func-
tion together.
MA:Your work does not look back. You use
all kinds of new, synthetic materials and
sometimes manmade objects, including
beach balls. You seem to be abandoning
natural forms in favor of artificial forms.
MPY: I am drawn to synthetic materials
because of their refractive and translucent
propertiesin other words, how they inter-
act with light. Then, regardless of whether
the forms I gather are medical devices,
28 Sculpture 32.5
COURTESY
THE
ARTIST
Above:Entity, 2006. Video projection,
stereo sound, thermoformed Plexi-
glas, LEDs, aluminum, vinyl tubing,
and sucrose gel beads, 10 x 15
x 15 ft. Below: Biomes, 2009. Cork
bark, thermoformed Plexiglas, alu-
minum, laser-cut polystyrene, and
vinyl tubing, 9 x 8 x 5 ft.
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industrial materials, consumer plastics, or electrical components, I am interested
in the sum of their parts. I accumulate plastic spheres, vinyl beach balls, and
sheets of thin mylar to form otherworldly environments. I am intrigued by the
point where transformation takes placethis can be compared to a field with
choreographed dancers, who create a different image with their bodies when they
are seen from above. I use different synthetic materials to create biomorphic, geo-
logical, or celestial forms. However, I also inject organic materials into my work
to create hybrids that bring together micro and macro, hard and soft, transparent
and opaque, real and fantasy, and order and chaos.
For example,Dispersionincludes dried moss, acrylic
seed capsules, and dangling vinyl branches. It rein-
terprets the methods employed by plants to dis-
perse their seeds. Each seed has its own mecha-
nism for landing, germinating, and reproducing.
Dispersionoffers a fantastical interpretation of spores
spreading through thin air. The installation is like
a still, a sliver of time freezing the moment when
life is released. When viewers walk through, theycause the balls of moss to spin through oscillations
in the air.
MA:You also use liquids.
MPY:I use fluids, as well as resin, which resembles
frozen fluid. I am drawn to the translucence, light
refraction, and visceral aspect of liquids. Like our
planet, we are made up of about 70 percent water.
Water is integral to all living things. Fluids give rise
to the kinds of natural phenomena that attract me.
For example, water causes light to bend, which gives
us rainbows, mirages, and other altered views. I
use plastics and acrylics because they refract light
in a similar way.
Sculpture June 2013 29
COURTESYTHEARTIST
Top left: Pods, 2010. Acrylic capsules, vinyl tubing, and
silicone, 10 x 10 x 4 ft. Left: Installation view of
Systems, 2006. Above: Macrospores, 2010. Ink, mylar,
vinyl, acrylic capsules, and sea fan, 10 x 30 x 30 ft.
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MA:Entityalso incorporates light.
MPY: I layer light with materials, video projections, and structures. My work is about a
density of images and information, which reflects our data-saturated age. Like the Light
and Space artists, I am interested in capturing a multiplicity of views, natural phenomena,
and the fleeting sense of life in the natural world through explorations of universals such
as light, space, systems, relationships, change, order, and structure.
InEntity, an LED light shines at the center of each pod-like sculpture and becomes thesource of life. It is embedded in a cluster of translucent red sucrose gel beads and resin
whose structure resembles a dividing cell. A video projected on to this field of pods cre-
ates a rhythmic, dream-like landscape of a microscopic universe. Gel-encased LEDs also
appear inEncoding, which references DNA patterns. I also use mirrored mylar and CNC-
engraved mirrors to create ethereal reflections and shadows. InGeodes, for instance, the
light bounces off thin, turning layers of mylar, which seemingly causes pools of rippling
water to form on the walls. A large part of my practice consists in creating such fleeting
impressions.
MA:So, these sculptures refer back to nature.
MPY:Indeed, though I wouldnt say that nature is the only reference. I am most interested
in the liminal statethe in-between state. I am interested in the slippage of information
that occurs during the creative process, in what is present and what lies in the future,
what is real and what is fantasy.
MA: Do you see your works as continuing
beyond the borders of the gallery?
MPY:I see them as growing exponentially
beyond the space they occupy. Repetition,
movement, and rhythm hint at the poten-
tial for growth and expansion. I am inves-
tigating environments that create visceral,
spatial, and perceptual encounters. I also
view these works as building on each other
in the sense of building an ecosystem
of organisms regulated by the kinds of pat-
terns, structures, and systems inherent in
nature. Allan Kaprow spoke of the dissolu-
tion of the line between art and life, and
he noted that if we bypass art and take
nature itself as a model or point of depar-
ture, we may be able to devise a different
kind of artout of the sensory stuff of ordi-
nary life.
MA: We are beginning to act like nature,
as we clone bodies, manipulate genes, and
construct the human genome.
MPY:Despite our growing knowledge, there
remains a tension between chaos and con-
trol. Technology allows us to gather an
enormous amount of information and bet-
ter understand ourselves and our environ-ment. We can prevent and cure certain
diseases, create delicious hybrid fruits, con-
struct energy-efficient buildings, view dis-
tant galaxies, and so much more. When
this information is used in a responsible
manner, we benefit. But there is always
the fear of a brave new world. My work
does not present a particular position; it
is intended as a vehicle for contemplation.
I try to introduce whimsy and fantasy. I
am, in a sense, creating a mythology of
forms.
MA:What do you mean by that?
30 Sculpture 32.5
TOP:
GENEOGAMI/
BOTTOM:COURTESYTHEARTIST
Above and detail:Traverse, 2009. Acetate, mylar,
ink, acrylic, PVC pipes, cement, and shadows, 12
x 40 x 20 ft.
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MPY:I use data and imagery drawn from
the world of science as my launch pad. Then
I filter, layer, reconfigure, and compress that
information into something other, whichis not a representation but an abstraction
that relates to imagination, dreams, uni-
versal concepts, narrative, and mythology.
MA:Do you imagine a narrative?
MPY:Not a set linear narrative, but a con-
stellation of relationships that engage on
multiple or parallel levels. I establish an
energetic exchange across objects, images,
and space that is transforming, evolving,
and expanding. I have always been fasci-
nated by parables, Greek mythology, sci-
ence fiction, creation stories, fairy tales,
alchemy, and fables.
MA: They are all ways for humanity to
explain the environment.
MPY:Yes, and to explore the boundaries
between the self and the outside world.
I am interested in the processes that drive
people to discover and explore. I was also
thinking about 19th-century naturalists, who
collected and documented their amazing
new discoveries, and about cabinets of curio-
sities and Mark Dions work. In a sense, my
work explores the sense of wonder and our
connection to our environment.MA:Is there a possibility of balance between
nature and industry?
MPY:I believe that a delicate balance can
be achieved. The field of biomimicry emu-
lates natures strategies in order to solve
modern engineering problems. For the East-
gate Centre in Harare, Zimbabwe, architect
Mick Pearce and his team studied the cooling
tunnels and chimneys of termite dens.
The interior of the den holds a steady, com-
fortable temperature, even while outside
temperatures fluctuate between extremes.Applying these lessons, the Eastgate Centre
uses 90 percent less energy than the sur-
rounding buildings.
MA: You are now venturing into architec-
ture yourself.
MPY:I am currently working on a large out-
door public art project. Immersionwill be
placed near the new Biomedical Health
Sciences Education Building, on the Phoenix
Biomedical Campus at the University of
Arizona. It consists of three sculptures of
abstracted neurons, made of welded steel
and covered with epoxy paint, each 15 feet
high and 30 feet wide. Neurons process and transmit
cellular signals and serve as connection points in complex
networks.Immersioncreates similar connections, guiding
its users into an expanded cellular world.
Michal Amy is a professor of the history of art at the
Rochester Institute of Technology.
Sculpture June 2013 31
COURTESYTHEARTIST
Above:Transmit, 2012. Mylar, video
projection, sound, and shadows, 10 x
20 x 15 ft. Below: Immersion(concep-
tual rendering), 2015. Laser-cut and
welded steel and epoxy paint, each
sculpture: 30 ft. diameter; overall
installation: 15 x 120 x 30 ft.
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TATSUO MIYAJIMA
The LifeThrough Time
and Space
A Conversation with
Pile up Life No 1(detail), 2008. LEDs, IC, pumice stone, and
electrical wire, 103.9 x 119.7 x 120.1 cm.COURTESYTHEARTISTANDLISSONGALLERY,LONDON
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Karlyn De Jongh: At the beginning of your career, you created
performances that addressed the concept of existence; now your
work seems to focus more on time, as demonstrated in Pile Up
Life (2008), which appeared at the 2011 Venice Biennale. Why
did you make this shift? How are time and existence related? Are
there fundamental differences for you between the two concepts?
Tatsuo Miyajima:Existence and time are keywords connected with
The Life. There is no difference between them. Both come from
The Life; without The Life, they do not exist. At the beginning of
my career, I stood for The Life. Before that, from 1982 to around
1985, I focused mainly on existence, which I expressed through
performance works. When I became conscious of The Life, I came
up with three concepts. From 1988 to 1995, I focused on time. I
did not explain The Life directly because I did not have a clear
enough mind for it; until 1995, I was too immature to use words
and also too inexperienced. Like many others before me, I foundthat it was easier to explain time as a concept than The Life.
Recently, however, I have started the work of trying to explain
The Life directly.
KDJ:The Life is a central concept for your work. It is a translation
of the Japanese wordinochi. How do you understand this concept?
TM:When I translate inochiinto English, I add the to life. The
meaning of The Life, as I use it, is larger than the usual sense. For
example, there is my inochiand yourinochi, and animals have
inochi as well. It is common to all, and the generic name is The
Life. In the Eastern world, we embrace nature as a whole (including
human beings) and take The Life as a totality. Therefore, The Life
can refer to an individual, but the meaning is broadermore like
the universe. It is a wide and deep theory. When I talk about The
Life, I refer to all, to everything that has life. Thats why it is the
same as an ecology: it encompasses the life of humans, the life
of trees and plants, and the life of animals. I always take into con-
sideration that everything is in relationship.
KDJ:You have formulated three basic themes for your work: keep
changing, continue forever, and connect with everything. You for-
mulated these concepts some years ago: Are they not themselves
temporal?
TM:Everything keeps changing, life keeps changing. This is not
easy to explain. Even the conceptkeep changingis constantly
changing. It is linked to the second concept, continue forever. In
Western theory, forever means permanent, which implies thatforever is unchanged. But my concept of forever is that everything,
even the conceptual stages themselves, forever changes.
The three concepts define a personal artistic goal. I create works
in order to aspire. Those three concepts indicate The Lifea very
wide, deep, and free subject. Now that I am more mature, I feel
like expanding more and more and going deeper, rather than
34 Sculpture 32.5
Counter Void, 2003. Neon, glass, IC, aluminum, and electrical wire, 5 x
50 meters overall.
COURTESYSCAITHEBATHHOUSE,
TOKYO
BY KARLYN DE JONGH
Since the 1980s, Tatsuo Miyajima, who lives and works in Ibaraki, Japan, has been making works that addresstime. Numbers made of LEDs count from one to nine or from nine to one; zero is not shown. For Miyajima,
time raises the issue of what he calls The Lifean ongoing, natural process combining life and death
and involving everything from humans and animals to plants and stones. These aspects of The Life are
visible in Miyajimas three central concepts: first, keep changing; second, continue forever; third, connect
with everything. Art in You, another important concept for him, considers the viewer as a mirror in which
to contemplate The Life.
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restricting myself. The ideas of forever and change do not go
together in Western theory. To be eternal means to be permanent,
a fixed shape that does not change eternally. But in the Eastern
world, the thought is that a shape keeps changing throughmovement and that continues forever. For example, in the theory
of samsara, The Life keeps changing its appearance; this process
of continual change remains connected to life, which lasts forev-
er. The movement is eternal. We use the word permanent, but
one day, we humans, or life, will die, but changing by movement
does not die out.
KDJ:1,000 Real Life ProjectDeathclock(2003) is a countdown to
death. The work presents many different temporalitiesthe life-
time, time remaining, the speed of counting, and the ongoingness
of the projectall working at different speeds. The speed of counting
is different for each person, as is the length of the countdown
to death. To what degree is time personal? To what degree does
it exist without human awareness?
TM:Time is definitely a personal thing. The notion that time goes
by equally only began in Greenwich in 1884 as the conceptual
interpretation of a new Modernism. It is based on an impersonal,
general theory. Essentially, time is the same as an individuals
death. It should be very personal. Individual death exists in
an infinite variety of distinctions. One is not the same as others.
KDJ:The Japanese word for the number zero is rei. It seems, how-
ever, that you use ku, which has a broader meaning and is not
necessarily a number. What does the silence or invisibility of the
zero mean to you? How does the zero relate to other numbers,
and what is its place in your understanding of time?
TM:Zero in the Western world implies nothingness. I do not showzero, because it has two meanings: one is nothingness, and the
other is vast quantity. Vast quantity means possibilitythere is a
tremendous mass that we cannot see, but it is there. Zero was
born approximately 5,000 years ago with both meanings, nothing-
Sculpture June 2013 35
TOP:
TADASUYAMAMOTO,
COURTESYSCAITHEBATHHOUSE,
TOKYO/CEN
TERANDBOTTOM:COURTESYTHEJAPANFOUNDATIONANDSCAITHE
BATHHOUSE,
TOKYO
Above:Sea of Time, 1998. LEDs, IC, electrical wire, plastic coating, and water in
FRP water pool, 125 pieces, 486 x 577 x 15 cm. overall. Below: Death of Time,
199092. LEDs, IC, e