Frederieke Taylor gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of new sculpture by Hans Accola entitled Logos Jigs. In his first solo show with the gallery, Accola presents a series of free-standing, playful and conflicted wooden constructions that he refers to as "logos jigs," a species of objects invented while struggling with sculpture. A recent interview between the artist and a cat sheds some light on the work presented in this exhibition:
Cat: Meow…
I noticed one of your sculptures
resembled a cat on it's back, it's
legs sticking straight up, like Fred
Sandback's cat.
Is it a dead cat or a sleeping cat?
Me: I discovered it in that position and it
is still sitting there with its legs up.
I think it just does that when I'm
looking. It's generous in that way.
Cat: Are you saying I should stay still
longer?
Me: Well then you would be a sculpture.
Cat: Meow………
So these wood sculptures,
what are they for?
Me: Warmth!
Cat: Is that why you refer to them as
"Logos Jigs?"
Me: Yes. It's Hericlitus' idea of logos
that has held my imagination.
For Hericlitus the logos is the common
constituent in everything……
Cat: ………and contact with it causes
warming of the soul.
Me: I like to think of the "common
constituent" as a context for making
sculpture, because it suggests a place
that doesn't function by dividing
matter and space, but rather reveals
their essential belonging together.
The logos isn't a frame or container,
it's pervasive activity.
Cat: Perhaps one day we'll just be the logos
Me: I think we already are we just can't
hold on to it………
Cat: …..so you make sculptures.
Me: That's it!
Cat: To do the logos tango!
Me: Sounds good! ………
..and what about you Cat?
Cat: I sleep for long periods of time and
then awaken to it suddenly, as if I
was caught with my fur down.
Also you have seen my own jigs?
(Cat begins a little shuffle and
then exposes belly)
Me: Ah yes! I learn much from your
acrobatic improvisations.
(Cat jumps back to her feet)
Cat: Improvisation seems to be at the
heart of how you go about building?
| Me: Absolutely! For me making sculpture
has always been a discipline to foster
listening. As I play with the wood
I am simultaneously opening and
closing associations and memories.
My own limitations arise as phrases
to improvise with towards a desire for
transformation.
It's about the strange and you use what
defines your own familiarity to get out
of the familiar and into the strange.
Cat: Perhaps then the logos is voice and
making sculpture a process of bringing
it out?
Me: Yeh! I always felt that Hericlitus was
describing something more like voice in
his logos, rather than word, reason, or
God as it was later to be used.
It's why listening and paying attention
often result in startling consequences.
Cat: Phrrh….. "Listening not to me but to
the logos, it is wise to say all is one"
(Me gets anxious to get to the studio
and heads toward the kitchen)
Me: A compelling thought……
..enough about warmth,
why don't you pull your fur back up and…
Cat: ……how about some of that ocean
fish formula?
Me: Is ocean fish formula conducive of
strangeness?
(Me opens a can of ocean fish formula
and serves a portion to Cat)
Cat: Meow………
familiar!
Hans Accola first exhibited at Frederieke Taylor Gallery in the fall of 2003 in Architecture Unplugged curated by Max Henry. He has had several solo shows in galleries in New York City and Boston, and was a recipient of the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, the Bush Foundation Fellowship, and the Jerome Foundation Visual Artist Fellowship. He currently lives and works in New York City.
For further information and visuals, please contact the gallery.
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