People are encouraged to walk through canals of stretched yarn and grasp the structural weavings, while spicy scents like turmeric and cumin are often diffused throughout the room. Brazilian artist Ernesto Neto (previously) is known for his enormous, fiber-based installations that plunge viewers into a multi-sensory landscape of organic elements: people are encouraged to walk through canals of stretched yarn and grasp the structural weavings, while spicy scents like turmeric and cumin are often diffused throughout the room.
Neto’s most recent installation at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, is similarly immersive and overwhelming. “SunForceOceanLife” is a 79-foot-long, 12-foot-high spiral of yellow, orange, and green threads that may be walked through. The flexible work is inspired by “fire, the vital energy that allows life on our planet,” according to the artist, who adds that each polymer string is burned at the end to imbue the piece with spiritual, meditation rites.
“I hope that the experience of this work feels like a chant made in gratitude to the enormous ball of fire we call the sun, a gesture of thanks for the energy, truth, and power that it shares with us as it touches our land, oceans, and lives,” he writes.
Plastic balls also litter the roadway and shift underfoot, forcing anyone traveling through the hanging structure to maintain their balance on purpose. Neto elaborates:
It invites us to relax, breathe, and uncouple our body from our conscious mind, much like a joyous dance or meditation does. The feeling of floating, with our bodies cradled by the crocheted fruits of our labor, reminds me of a hammock: the ideal indigenous innovation that uplifts us and ties us to our ancestors’ wisdom and customs.
“SunForceOceanLife” is on view at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston through September 26, 2021. You can see more of Neto’s interactive, site-specific projects at Galerie Max Hetzler. (via designboom)
What a fantastic piece of work. I love it.