An Opaque Wind
2015-

 

An Opaque Wind – Trifid Seating in Six Folds
2022

Clay bricks, concrete bricks, mortar, turbine vents, soil, various local plants

154 x 949 x 596 cm

Courtesy of the artist

Installation view of Okayama Art Summit 2022: Do We Dream Under the Same Sky, Tenjinyama Cultural Plaza, Orient Museum, Okayama Shrine, Japan, 2022
Photo: Yasushi Ichikawa

 

An Opaque Wind Park in Six Folds
2016

Clay bricks, mortar, aluminum turbine vents, steel, soil, stone, cork, various plants
318 x 1769 x 1233 cm

Courtesy of the artist

Installation view of An Opaque Wind Park in Six Folds, Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art, Porto, Portugal, 2016
Photo: Filipe Braga, © Fundação de Serralves, Porto

 

An Opaque Wind – Humbled Gray #1
2016

Concrete blocks, concrete bricks, glow paint, turbine vents, mortar, air conditioners
135 x 337 x 267 cm

Courtesy of the artist

Installation view of Quasi-Pagan Minimal, Greene Naftali, New York, USA, 2016
Photo: Martha Fleming-Yves

 

An Opaque Wind – Humbled Gray #2
2016

Concrete blocks, glow paint, turbine vents, mortar, air conditioner
142 x 269 x 201 cm

Courtesy of the artist

Installation view of Quasi-Pagan Minimal, Greene Naftali, New York, USA, 2016
Photo: Martha Fleming-Yves

 

An Opaque Wind
2015

Site-specific installation *

Dimensions variable

Commissioned by Sharjah Art Foundation

Courtesy of the artist

Installation view of Sharjah Biennial 12: The past, the present, the possible, Bait Al Aboudi, Sharjah, UAE, 2015
Photo: Deema Shahin

* Full material list: concrete blocks, clay bricks, glow paint, turbine vents, concrete, mortar, air conditioners, tree trunk, coral stones, corrugated metal sheets, grating steel sheets, painted steel tube, rivets, whitewood lookout station, wooden chairs, gypsum mashrabiya, reinforced concrete mashrabiya, palm strips, sandalwood vestibule, sandalwood window canopies, mattress, wooden newspaper stand, community newspapers, metal lamp stand, cotton twine lampshade, light bulbs, palm strip mats, electric fans, whitewood sitting tables, satellite dish, satellite receiver, TV monitor, Korean channel playing on mute, MP3 player, Doubles and Halves – Events with Nameless Neighbors (2009) playing, headphones, lanterns **

 

Photo: © Sabine Reitmaier

 

Video: Studio Haegue Yang


Excerpt from Okayama Art Summit 2022: Do We Dream Under the Same Sky exhibition catalog

Haegue Yang’s work frequently explores the geometries and modular systems that persist across various regions and eras, as recurring forms of visual language that unify otherwise disparate cultures. Under the title of An Opaque Wind, Yang has realized several related, outdoor architectural structures that function like small landmarks since 2015.

Commissioned by Okayama Art Summit, Yang has conceived a new brick sculpture in public space. Yang is drawn to the materiality of the brick as both universally available and locally in ected, and the size and proportion of the bricks in use dictates the process of the structure’s design. Comprising towers of varying sizes and winding, double-sided benches, An Opaque Wind – Trifid Seating in Six Folds is located in an open area at Ishiyama Park.

Extending outward from a concave, hexagonal center, these brick benches enable different contemplative views of the natural and man-made surroundings. Made of clay- red bricks in tones of white, beige and grayish-brown (with accents of colorful concrete bricks throughout), the components of each bench are arranged in alternating patterns. Both the ornamental bricks and turbine vents were sourced domestically. The configuration of the benches and towers lies on a hexagonal matrix. e drawn shapes are extruded vertically, such that the work unfolds in a modular yet rhythmic manner. Used by Islamic designers and artisans since the seventh century, six-fold, symmetrical geometries symbolize perfection and a divine order made visible in the material world, manifested in the use of the hexagon to represent a universal being.

Unlike earlier iterations of An Opaque Wind, the recent structures integrate seating or beds for potted plants. The works emphasize holistic, environmental integrity and distinctive, modular geometries in equal measure. Meanwhile, the rotating turbine vent is evidence for the continuous movement of air around the piece, the forces that circulate within and beyond it.

 


Exhibition history

Okayama Art Summit: Do We Dream Under the Same Sky, 2022

An Opaque Wind Park in Six Folds, Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art, Porto, Portugal, 2016

Quasi-Pagan Minimal, Greene Naftali, New York, USA, 2016

Sharjah Biennial 12: The past, the present, the possible, Bait Al Aboudi, Sharjah, UAE, 2015

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