US artist’s yarn sculptures on view
Fred Sandback (1943-2003) was a sculptor, but his art is a long way from traditional sculpture. His work is made with yarn or cords stretched across spaces, presenting a more delicate and subtle installation.
The American conceptual sculptor’s pieces following the color scheme of white, black, blue, yellow and red - a color scheme called “obangsaek” in Korean — are on view at the first solo exhibition of the artist’s work in Korea at Gallery Hyundai in central Seoul through Oct. 6.
The Fred Sandback Estate, which manages the late artist’s oeuvre, suggested the theme of obangsaek to the gallery first.
“He did not create anything related to or inspired by Korea, but the estate ran by his family came up with the idea of selecting and exhibiting works in the five colors for the Seoul exhibition,” the gallery said.
Sandback’s sculptures are made by tightly securing lines of acrylic yarn or elastic cords to walls and floors, drawing borders of various geometric shapes in the space. The sculptures are between the ethereal and the tangible, the incorporeal and the concrete.
“I think my first attraction to this situation was to the way it allowed me to play with something both existing and not existing at the same time,” Sandback once said.
“Untitled (Vertical Corner Piece) [LLR]” is in the corner, but this 1968 piece is an early work that shaped Sandback’s yarn sculptures. The three rectangles are of the same height, but create an optical illusion, seen as two- or three-dimensional depending on the viewpoint. While corners are often neglected in the traditional floor plan of a gallery space, Sandback explored a new artistic possibility in the underused space.
His works are on the border between a sculptural object and architectural framework.
A centerpiece on the first floor is “Untitled (Sculptural Study, Sixpart Right-angled Construction)” (1976/2013), which invites viewers to take a step inside the space created by the sculpture’s thin lines in the shape of a doorframe.
Visitors can pass through the central passage or walk between the L-shaped lines, or the “pedestrian space,” as Sandback called it.
On the second floor are more variations of the simple and clean architectural sculptures that redefines structural settings of the space. The yarn sculptures create squares and rectangles in upright and leaning positions, dividing the space in a new perception.
While most of other works are available in the form of diagrams and can be installed under the supervision of the Fred Sandback Estate, one of the works on show is original. “Untitled (Broken Line Polygon)” is pentagon-shaped made with yellow and black yarn, hand painted by the artist on white yarn. Unlike the other yarn used to create the Sandback sculptures that are disposed of after display, this unique yarn is in the possession of the estate for it is one-of-a-kind.
Sandback’s playfulness is shown in “Untitled (Sculptural Study, Mikado),” part of his “Pick-up Stick” series. Inspired by the children’s game, black, white and yellow yarn is stretched over the gallery space, transforming it into a gigantic game of lines.
Performance artist Andrea Fraser described Sandback’s sculptures as “an art of objects without shadows.” These yarn sculptures might have a feeble physical existence, but they redefine the existing architectural space wherever installed.
Emphasizing the essential thin lines of Sandback’s sculptures, the gallery included a thread of yarn for cat’s cradle in the invitations for the exhibition. “You can do many things with the thread if you are adventurous like Sandback,” the gallery said.