Yuka Otani -November 18th, 2009 (Bushwick)
“My work creates a membrane that shifts viewer’s perception in physical and cognitive spaces.Through the lenses of phenomenological and sociological studies, I explore clear materials; primarily glass, water, melted sugar, and light. Those materials are indeterminate and elusive. They are poised for change.”
—Yuka Otani
Brian Zegeer, Dustin Dennis
Brian Zegeer, Andrew Prazner, Rachel Frank, Niels Cosman
Jeanne Jo, Christopher Martin
Yuka Otani’s practice comes from a conceptual approach to the ideas of glass, reflection and impermanence. Her projects combine these ideas with social issues resulting in physical interactions with the ephemeral. Lately Yuka has taken a “not glass” approach to glass ideas and processes to expand her understanding and outlook. The projects that Yuka presented during her studio visit were a collection of glassware tumblers and flutes cast in hard sugar candy, photographs of blown sugar vessels as they deformed and dissolved, and a video that combined shots of Yuka blowing glass and sugar. During the visit Yuka invited all the participants to drink from the sugar glasses. Some glasses dissolved and sprung leaks while others stayed intact long enough to be eaten.The group discovered that the sugar-glasses will change over time depending on the atmospheric exponents in their exhibition space. The glassware may slump, become opaque, liquefy or become otherwise volatile. The group discussed the poetic, practical and conceptual implications of this volatility and what may be involved in the use or exhibition of the sugar-glass objects. The specific shapes of the glasses were also discussed in tandem with glass history and commodity as it pertains to art objects. Participants questioned whether the form should be more specific to the sugar material and function or whether generic forms are more appropriate so as to focus attention on the ideas behind the project.-Amanda Lechner
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