COLLECTIONS

Sculpture on the log (Sculpture on the vase)

Japan
Tetsuro Kano

Sculpture on the log (Sculpture on the vase), 2021, 70 x 35 x 35 cm, glass, aged glass and stone, wood, unique
All images courtesy of the artist

Someone once said that to build upwards was repeated many times out of an attempt to be closer to god, but that it was foolish to try to build a house on the sand.

Technology to measure level-ness and perpendicularity were cultivated in order to build better towers. Tools were created, surveying methods were developed, and a sense of stability gradually waned from humans. Even horizontal planes and perpendiculars that were conceived with the greatest caution are gradually lost due to various reasons including deterioration. In any case, enduring level-ness is not guaranteed in land, and then again the loss of level-ness or perpendicularity is not directly linked to the immediate loss of value.

Even now, migratory birds are aware of the direction in which they must migrate. A practice for surveying without a linchpin. For example, one creates a drawing on a quadrilateral paper without right angles, or one that is cut into a polygon, while staying aware of the balance between level and perpendicular. Or, one stacks logs one on top of another without using rulers or levels, searching for a position that seems perpendicular. The wall or floor is not flat nor perpendicular. One must not forget that the level of the floor or the ground is always changing. Even Japan's origin of longitude and latitude one day moved almost 27cm to the east.

Editor: Aura Contemporary Art Foundation