On a trip down to Los Angeles I had
the opportunity to see Jacob Hashimoto’s latest work Gas Giant (2014)at the
MOCA Pacific Design Center, and I was blown away by this beautiful piece. This
particular MOCA location is the smallest of the three but housed this one
massive work perfectly. This show included a large number of individual pieces
but they all added up to just one work of art, the Gas Giant. Hashimoto is a Japanese American artist who was born in
Colorado and lives and works in New York. With his work Hashimoto draws
inspiration from his cultural past, using techniques from traditional Japanese
kite making to create the large-scale installation works he is known for. In
this exhibition Hashimoto is exploring the idea of collecting and the vastness
of landscape.
Jacob Hashimoto, Gas Giant (top floor of installation)
One portion of the Gas Giant
This has been the first exhibition I have attended that only included one artwork, but I feel it
occupied the space well on its own. With other artworks this piece would not
have done so well, this work consumed the gallery, as well as the viewer. This
specific work included over 30,000 individual hand made kite-like objects. The
viewer can easily approach the work and see that each one is made of paper and
held only by a thin string. Once up-close one can examine that each kite is
either delicately collaged with multiple pieces of colored paper or drawn on by
hand. The number of small paper kites and thin hanging strings is almost
overwhelming.
Though this
piece is not site specific it worked well with the architecture of this
particular building. The MOCA Design Center’s building is a big cube, with two
stories. Inside, the Gas Giant
consumed both floors. The first floor was draped with kites only black and
white in color and tangled together in a violent mess. Displaying it this way
disrupted the repetition of shapes and materials as well as possibly referenced
the turbulent winds that destroy these delicate objects. On the second story
the viewer is confronted with thousands of precisely placed colored kites. Each
one holds on to the piece above it by a thin black string delicately connecting
the objects. When the viewer walks through the space the works sways and
becomes interactive depending on the movement. This swaying reminds one of what
these objects are intended for, kites are made to fly yet these are place
indoors only to move in response to the passer-by.
Detail of the paper kites
Myself at the Gas Giant show
This work has been
displayed two other times but the Los Angeles exhibit is the last showing of
this work. Like any installation this work has changed depending on where it
was shown. This gives Hashimoto the ability to add or subtract from this work
depending on what he feels is necessary. This work displays a type of obsessive
collecting, the shear number of individual pieces shows the artist’s need to
fill the space without crowding it. This shows that Hashimoto greatly considers
each venue and manipulates the piece so that it works with its environment. The
viewer can move freely throughout the museum, even close enough to inspect the
work and speculate on the amount of time it would have taken to create such a
massive yet temporary piece of art.
Jacob Hashimoto, Gas Giant, 2014
This work is able
to reference landscape in the various designs on the kites, including pictures
of clouds and even grass. Throughout the work, sections vary in the length of
the strings attached to the kites giving the work movement even when it remains
still. The repetition of shapes and style becomes soothing as one wanders the
gallery space. Like the majority of Hashimoto’s work Gas Giant is made mainly out of paper, giving this work the ability
to move. All elements of this artwork combine well, the material, the placement
of objects, and the regard for space as well as the venue itself. Hashimoto’s
craftsmanship and attention to detail shine through in this work. I would recommend
this exhibition to anyone that is in the area; it is an exciting piece and a
wonderful experience. Hashimoto’s work pulls the viewer in and amazes at every
turn.
Amazing installation - great review, Sara!
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