until it rains
Masatoshi Noguchi
Alexander Wierer
16.06.22 - 16.08.22
curated by Maximilian Pellizzari & Leonardo Cuccia
The exhibition until it rains shows new and site-specific works by the artists Masatoshi Noguchi (Tokyo, 1988) and Alexander Wierer (Brixen, 1989). Various assemblages made of found objects and natural readymades merge into architectural interventions and process works. The exhibition addresses the contemporary condition of instability and the need for mutual support in the context of human ecologies. until it rains is understood as a system, in which the individual parts develop in relation to each other and can change or disappear during the exhibition period.The works by
Masatoshi Noguchi (Tokyo, 1988) develop from a careful use of materials chosen for their conceptual value, which at the same time become elements of narratives with a social and political background. The works in the exhibition question the circulation of goods, the economic system and energy, highlighting the close relationship between human activity and the living ecosystem. Squirrel (hard currency), 2022 illustrates the squirrels’ activity of storing chestnuts underground to draw from them during the winter when they find themselves in an overabundance of this subsistence element. Forgetting the place where they have been hidden, sometimes the chestnuts begin to grow, becoming anew tree. It represents a sustainable form of circulation, in which squirrels become unwitting agents of nature. In the installation, the squirrels are made using the origami technique from a series of banknotes, to draw attention to the economic system and make people reflect on the side effects of using hard currency. Through a series of instruction sheets, visitors can create their own squirrel, where the currency becomes the material for origami. The condition of precariousness is addressed by works such as waiting for thunderbolt, 2022, in which the artist creates assemblages consisting of multiple sockets and pine cones of the giant sequoia. During fires caused by lightning, the pine cones open leaving scorched and fertile ground for the growth of a new plant. Similarly, in ‘Til it rains (inverted world), 2022 the artist makes a map of the world entirely out of cabbage leaves hung on the wall with drawing pins, showing how precariousness is a global condition, of planet earth, understood as a natural resource to be preserved. This work and Til it rains (play), 2022 give the exhibition its title. On the street outside the exhibition space, coloured chalks and the bell game drawn on the ground by the artist are presented. Visitors and passers-by are invited to draw on the street, creating a collective work destined to disappear when it starts to rain, extending the discourse on precariousness to human action itself and the status of the work of art.
Alexander Wierer (Brixen, 1989) works with various objet trouvés that are assembled in sculptural configurations together with structures he has made himself, in which everyday objects are abstracted from their function, creating connections of meaning and short circuits of meaning in their collision, whereby the known becomes extraneous and evocative. In the works slice, 2022 and can we talk, 2022, the artist creates portions of metal structures inspired by bus support poles and handrails in the exhibition space. These body support structures feature everyday objects such as a walking stick and a leather glove, suggesting human interaction with such elements. They can be interpreted as snippets of an experience that develops beyond the objects, opening up an imaginative space in which, in the absence of the user, the objects become petrified agents in their temporary presence. A heart-shaped cushion with arms, the best-selling IKEA product ever, is presented with its arms raised in a sign of surrender. The work ironically bears the title Killer, 2022. The artist reflects on the status of the iconic object in the consumer society, where the object of speculation itself surrenders to its commodification. In five knives, 2022 Wierer presents five kitchen knives mount together in an assemblage in which the individual elements are fitted together with handles and blades in alternating directions. In this way their affordance (invitation to use) is inverted, making use itself a danger to the potential user. In untitled, 2022, the artist makes a metal dog muzzle. The work, installed at the entrance of the exhibition space, establishes a discourseon the domination of human beings over other living species. By transposing the form into metal, it becomes a heavy element, a kind of relict of the form of control.
The works in until it rains were created simultaneously by the artists and present various contaminations. For example, the cabbage used as a material by Noguchi to produce the map of the world in ‘Til it rains (inverted world), 2022 is taken up by Wierer for untitled, 2022, a lamp consisting of a glass bowl containing cabbage leaves and an LED light. Similarly, the figure of the squirrel present in Noguchi’s Squirrel (hard currency), 2022 is present in Wierer’s untitled, 2022, in which the animal’s tail emerges from a plaster cast of a packaging material, that becomes a totemic form, revisiting the traditional hunting trophy. The title of the exhibition indicates two perspectives on the precariousness of the relationship between man and nature: while rain can cause a flood, it also represents our dependence on natural natural resources. “As long as it does not rain”, human beings will continue to act, determining new balances or imbalances with the living system. The exhibition aims to investigate this relationship, showing different perspectives on the interconnectedness of the human sphere of action with other species and nature. Text: M.P.
Masatoshi Noguchi, ‘Til it rains (inverted world), 2022. Photo: Tiberio Sorvillo
Alexander Wierer, slice, 2022. Photo: Martino Stelzer
Masatoshi Noguchi, waiting for thunderbolt, 2022. Photo: Tiberio Sorvillo
Masatoshi Noguchi, Squirrel (hard currency), 2022. Photo: Tiberio Sorvillo
Masatoshi Noguchi, Squirrel (hard currency), 2022.(Detail) Photo: Tiberio Sorvillo
Alexander Wierer, Killer, 2022. Photo: Martino Stelzer
Alexander Wierer, untitled, 2022. Photo:Tiberio Sorvillo
Alexander Wierer, five knives, 2022. Photo: Martino Stelzer
Masatoshi Noguchi, Survival (story telling), 2022. Photo: Martino Stelzer
Alexander Wierer, can we talk, 2022. Photo: Tiberio Sorvillo
until it rains. Masatoshi Noguchi | Alexander Wierer. Installation view. Photo: Tiberio Sorvillo
