EBELTOFT.- Using glass as a material and metaphor for the tension-filled reality of our time, three artists from Japan and three from Denmark reveal their own stories about feelings of loss of control, fragility and instability in the exhibition 無常 When You Lose Control. The exhibition is on view at Glas — Museum of Glass Art, Ebeltoft.

“During the last few years, the world as we know it has become increasingly uncertain and fragile. Covid-19, war in Ukraine, despotic rulers, fake news and climate crisis are but a few of the challenges we face. They have opened our eyes to the fact that we are much more interconnected globally than we might be inclined to think. So how do we as individuals react to a fragmented and insecure world?”

This question has been asked by curators Masahiro Saito and Mette Bielefeldt Bruun in the exhibition 無常 When You Lose Control. In collaboration with Glas — Museum of Glass Art, they have invited six artists from Japan and Danmark to reflect upon a world that feels increasingly out of control.

The artists represented in the exhibition from Japan are Runa Kosogawa, Hitoshi Kuriyama and Hidenori Tsumori, and from Denmark are Maria Bang Espersen, Maria Koshenkova and Kirstine Roepstorff. Each in their own way, they address feelings of loss of control, instability and fragility, change and interconnectedness.

With her installation ’Weaving Life’, Runa Kosogawa has created a poetic narrative about the fragility of nature and life, using hundreds of glass bubbles as a kind of diary recording her own breath. Hitoshi Kuriyama explores the concept of nothingness and existence in his installation ’Noise of the Void’, which consists of neon tubes that emit a flickering red light as well as a constant noise. Hidenori Tsumori mixes ceramic clay and glass creating a dramatic and contrasting expression reminiscent of the movements of the earth’s crust.

Maria Bang Espersen challenges the limits of the material by combining glass with incompatible elements. This creates a tension in the glass, which causes the glass to crack. Her work investigates concepts of strength vs vulnerability and raises questions regarding what is allowed to take up space and what is overlooked or has become invisible. In Maria Koshenkova’s work vulnerability and brutality exist side by side in sculptures, where soft, organics glass shapes are tied up with rope and metal structures. Kirstine Roepstorff’s work for the exhibition is both conceptual and an exploration of the material. She has created an installation, which encourages global dialogue using water microphones of glass that can be activated and can register future conversations. The glass elements in her installation have been created in the museum’s studio, where Kirstine Roepstorff has worked closely with glassblower Chris Lowry on several occasions.

The common denominator for the six artists is glass. A material whose inherent qualities reflect the focal point of the exhibition. “In many ways, the material reflects the world’s fragility. It can easily shatter, just like the confidence and the systems that we thought were unshakeable. But glass is also strong and resistant. It can be recycled and reshaped, pointing to the possibilities of renewal and transformation even in the most difficult times,” Mette Bielefeldt Bruun explains. The Japanese title 無常 (Mujö) means that nothing lasts forever. Everything is changeable. It is a reminder that change is the only thing that is in constant motion and that our attempts to maintain control in the end is impossible. But 無常 also reminds us that with change there is also potential for renewal.

ARTISTS REPRESENTED IN THE EXHIBITION

• Runa Kosogawa (JP)
• Hidenori Tsumori (JP)
• Hitoshi Kuriyama (JP)
• Maria Bang Espersen (DK)
• Maria Koshenkova (DK/RU)
• Kirstine Roepstorff (DK)