Haegue Yang

Yang's work was awe inspiring as soon as i saw the installation at the Henry weeks before.  Her work takes form in abstract installations constructed out of window blinds of different variations in color and size hanging in a sculptural way to be viewed from many angles. the different perspectives show how the layering of the open blinds to the eye makes different shades and acts as a large seemingly obstructive form, but is really a thin and relatively delicate see through barrier.

Being in a place of exhibition where the point is to view the artwork put one in the mindset to think about things objectively, but when facing Haegue's installation, one cant help but to connect so some sort of nostalgic or past encounter with the simple machine of blinds. The slats can be opened or closed to see through and pulling on the cord lifts them up. The blinds themselves are not abstracted, just the assembly of them in multiples, so one should think that they function as normal blinds do. even thinking objectively, it still makes sense for the everyday object to function as an every day object, and yet because it is being viewed in a galley, it is of course not acceptable to touch the work and test this theory of the installations function. There is a desire to pull on the hanging cord in hopes that the very still sculpture will work like a Rube Goldberg machine and activate sequentially. This creates a serious tension and intrigue between the viewer and the work, all while being totally still and abstracted.

Other works of hers which do in fact function on their own autonomously create a different relationship with the viewer. The picture below is of a moving installation that raises and lowers the blinds and opens and closes them in seemingly random patterns. the many layers and angles and mechanical functioning is very mesmerizing and confusing, as if these simple hanging strips of plastic/metal that make up the every day object are all one living industrial entity.

A question was asked at the lecture where she gets all the blinds and/or if she makes them herself, and she in fact purchases all of them from an online vendor who has a very detailed selection of blind material, cord color, patterns, etc, making these materials available to anyone in the world. Knowing this simply encourages the feeling of purpose and function in Yang's work even as an abstract installation.

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