As Above, So Below

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Olafur Eliasson, The Weather Project

In this installation, The Weather Project, representations of the sun and sky dominate the expanse of the Turbine Hall. A fine mist permeates the space, as if creeping in from the environment outside. Throughout the day, the mist accumulates into faint, cloud-like formations, before dissipating across the space. A glance overhead, to see where the mist might escape, reveals that the ceiling of the Turbine Hall has disappeared, replaced by a reflection of the space below. At the far end of the hall is a giant semi-circular form made up of hundreds of mono-frequency lamps. The arc repeated in the mirror overhead produces a sphere of dazzling radiance linking the real space with the reflection. Generally used in street lighting, mono-frequency lamps emit light at such a narrow frequency that colours other than yellow and black are invisible, thus transforming the visual field around the sun into a vast duotone landscape. (via)

Using a simple household material, salt, as his primary medium, Japanese artist Motoi Yamamoto creates fantastical blizzards and seascapes that touch upon conceptual frontiers. Since Hi-Fructose correspondent Nathan Spoor interviewed Yamamoto in 2009, the artist has had several solo shows that yielded delicate, pristine works that are entrancing to look at with their repetitive and meticulous details. Many of Yamamoto’s works have a labyrinthine structure that the artist describes as “nearly reachable, yet not quite,” alluding to the idea of trying to recall past experiences and coming to terms with the fleeting nature of memory. Take a look at some of Yamamoto’s latest works from his shows at the Bellevue Arts Museum, Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art and the Hakone Open-Air Museum.

http://hifructose.com/2012/08/01/new-works-by-motoi-yamamoto/

(via perennialetudiante)

“Tube” by Lithuanian artist Zilvinas Kempinas is an 80 foot long tunnel made of lengths of magnetic tape from VHS cassettes.

“I am attracted to things that are capable of transcending their own banality and materiality to become something else, something more. I like the way that videotape is simultaneously delicate and durable, since it’s meant to last. I can rip it easily with my hands because it’s so thin, but I can also stretch it. Videotape is made to present the world in color, but it appears purely black. It’s supposed to be this safe container of the past, but it is destined to vanish like a dinosaur, to become obsolete, pushed away by new technologies. It’s a familiar mass-produced commodity, but it can be surprisingly sensual and can look almost alive if set in motion. It can be seen as a solid, thick, black line, but it can also disappear right in front of your eyes if it’s turned on its side”

— Zilvinas Kempinas

(via Laughing Squid and Triangulation)

“Salt seems to possess a close relation with human life beyond time and space. Moreover, especially in Japan, it is indispensable in the death culture. After my sister’s death, what I began to do in order to accept this reality was examine how death was dealt with in the present social realm. I posed several related themes for myself such as brain death or terminal medical care and picked related materials accordingly.  I was interested in the fact that salt is used in funerals for its subtle transparency. Gradually I came to a point where the salt in my work might have been a part of some creature that supported their lives. I believe salt enfolds the memory of life. We feel sorrow and despair when someone close to us passes away; we realize that we can not speak again. This kind of loss can be lessened by the memories that remain. The process of my work involves determining the distance between those memories and myself.”

— Motoi Yamamoto

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