Every day, Yuji Agematsu takes a stroll for the specific function of scouring the streets. The dried leaf, misplaced toy, and even the wad of gum discarded on a park bench are his treasures, which he retrieves and locations within the clear cellophane that wraps a pack of cigarettes. Though Agematsu not smokes, this behavior of wandering and accumulating has been more durable to interrupt: he’s been dedicated to it since 1996.
As soon as tucked inside the skinny envelope, the artist’s findings change into an homage to the great thing about the mundane. He arranges trash and different findings virtually like ikebana, utilizing a glass shard or cracked stick to search out stability and concord. Objects others would barely discover are supplies that characterize the human situation and up to date issues. In Agematsu’s eyes, they reveal a complete host of insights about our particular person and collective lives.
Judd Basis presents two years’ value of Agematsu’s sculptures within the aptly titled 2023–2024, an exhibition offered at 101 Spring Road in SoHo and Gavin Brown’s residence on Lenox Avenue in Harlem. The Spring Road area is the previous residence and workspace of Donald Judd, a constructing Agematsu managed for 20 years.
Offered chronologically, every bit is cleverly positioned on a white, aluminum shelf to resemble a month-to-month calendar. Given the artist’s decades-long dedication, the continued venture has provided a number of revelations. As Agematsu instructed The New York Occasions earlier this 12 months:
Discovered objects have extra energy. We will see so many types of how you can change the form and colour. Climate makes change. Additionally human ego. Due to the chewing gum, I discover that laughing chewing gum, offended chewing gum, are all totally different. We make a distinct form from a distinct temper.
Whereas the “zips,” because the artist refers to them, are small—about 3.5 x 2.5 x 2 inches—they’ve the flexibility to seize situations a lot greater than anybody individual. For instance, a wet spring day would possibly go away a layer of mud and condensation pooling on the backside of the plastic, whereas wrappers for specific sorts of sweet would possibly point out the cultural make-up of a neighborhood.
On this means, the items are additionally a visible diary of what people management and don’t, and the way the innumerable forces impacting our lives seem in even the tiniest remnants.
2023-2024 is on view by August 30.
