Thursday Salute to Originals: Translucency Hovers Within Reach
Translucency can take many forms. Every day at GPI we revel in the translucent qualities found in building materials such as onyx, glass, wood, and resin. Usually forming the show stopping features of a building, their materiality is exposed and celebrated for all to see. With such focus on translucency at center stage, rarely do we pause to ponder the light-transmitting qualities of materials that lie hidden beneath the surface – items so practical and concealed as an automobile airbag.
Realizing the artful potential of these ordinary safety devices, Japanese artist Onishi Yasuaki harnesses the inherent translucent (and lightweight) properties of airbags in his installation, Vertical Volume. Allowing the pouches to hover in air, concealed fans activate dream-like movements, creating glowing and hypnotizing assemblages of transparency and weightlessness. The airbag forms are no longer relegated to compacted safety devices stowed in a hidden compartment; instead, their latent potential and beauty is delicately amplified and celebrated.
While we love the unique use of a material rarely touted for its translucent qualities, feelings and reactions towards Yasuaki’s installation have been mixed amongst our team; it doesn’t stir up any particularly strong emotion. Some of us see it as another translucent surface that we could integrate with our backlighting, while others are reminded of a jellyfish or the bouncy graphics in a Mario video game (and we’re usually a deep thinking bunch!).
But maybe the takeaway message from this installation doesn’t need to be rooted deep in thought or artistic theory. In this piece, it is the material itself that creates the intrigue, and perhaps therein lies the lesson: material, no matter what its delegated or common use, has the potential to surprise, impact, and beautify in ways yet unseen. And for that perspective, we give our most respectful salute to Yasuaki for his work in exploring translucency as a moldable, three dimensional medium.
Who knows, maybe now you’ll find hidden potential in that plastic shopping bag, that wax paper sheet in your basket of french fries, or the bubble wrap in your shipping package and transform it into the next celebrated architectural material? Only time (and a creative mindset!) will tell.
Image source: The Creators Project