Surface of the Third Order

by Hiroshi Sugimoto

Catalog from the exhibition of new objects by Hiroshi Sugimoto. The catalog features two bodies of conceptual three-dimensional work: intimately-sized crystal pagodas inlaid with images from Sugimoto’s iconic Seascape series, and large-scale aluminum sculptures based on mathematical functions. Introduction by the Author.

48 pages, Paperback

First published October 28, 2011

Reviews

[Michael Vagnetti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sugimoto pushes two strands in his conceptual narrative forward in this catalog from the Pace Gallery show (10/28/11-12/23/11). There are three sculptures of mathematical objects such as "Dini's Surface" or an "Onduloid" - braided, corkscrewing pillars of steel that describe numerical models in three-dimensional space. Sugimoto describes his approach one to "remodel" the original models, like a "sampled portion of the infinite." With Brancusi's "Endless Column" as a reference point, Sugimoto experiences these as physical manifestations of an artist's imagination.

The second set of objects, "Five Element Stupa in Optical Glass," are positioned as extensions of the tradition of Buddhist relic towers or pagoda, which contain five elements that symbolize the four elements of the cosmos: cube (earth), sphere (water), pyramid (fire), hemisphere (air), and the hoju (formlessness), a "mystic gem whose droplet-like shape disappears instantly into a perfect globe, an image of the cosmic void closing upon itself." These reliquaries are combined with photographs from Sugimoto's Seascape series, which have been embeded within the crystal sphere. Thus the series of horizons, which, for Sugimoto, "reawaken an awareness for origins of human consciousness," are given a new context.