Yuji Agematsu arranges street fragments into small daily sculptures – huge
Every day, Yuji Agematsu takes a walk for a clear purpose of searching for the streets. His treasure is his treasure, the dried leaves he discarded on the park bench, lost toys, and even discarded chewing gum, he retrieved the pile of cigarettes and placed it in transparent cellophane. Although Agematsu no longer smokes, this habit of wandering and collecting is hard to break: he has been committed to it since 1996.
Once it is stuffed into a thin envelope, the artist’s discovery becomes a tribute to ordinary beauty. He uses glass shards or cracked sticks to find balance and harmony, turning garbage and other discoveries almost like ikebana. Others rarely notice materials representing the human condition and contemporary concerns. In Agematsu’s eyes, they reveal a lot of insights about our personal and collective lives.
Judd Foundation 2023–2024This is an exhibition located at the home of Gavin Brown on Spring 101 Soho and Harlem Lenox Street. Spring Street Space is the former residence and work area of Donald Judd, a building that has been managed for twenty years.
Presented in chronological order, each piece is cleverly placed on a white aluminum rack, similar to the monthly calendar. Given the artist’s decades of dedication, the ongoing project offers several revelations. As Agematsu said The New York Times Earlier this year:
The object is found to have more power. We can see how many varieties of shape and color can be changed. The weather has changed. It is also the human self. Because of the gum, I noticed that the gum with a smile, the gum with anger was all different. We are different from different moods.
While the “zippers” that artists refer to are small (about 3.5 x 2.5 x 2 inches), they have larger capture conditions than any one person. For example, a rainy spring may leave a layer of mud and condensation that gathers at the bottom of the plastic, while a specific kind of candy wrapper may indicate the cultural makeup of the community.
In this way, these works are also visual diaries of human control and uncontrollable, and how countless forces that affect our lives appear in the smallest remnants.
2023-2024 It lasted until August 30.
