Yasuko Toyoshima Web Site | WORKS / Fix／Division

Fix/Division (2009-)

A kusudama is a large decorated paper ball used to mark festive occasions such as opening ceremonies. People pull a string, which releases confetti and a banner from within the ball. I created this kusudama for an exhibition and installed it in a space with a very high ceiling. Having kept it intact throughout the exhibition run, I did not pull the string until after the exhibition closed. Left hanging from the ceiling during the show, it was like an unexploded shell whose reason or purpose was like a stillborn, released only after the event was over.

Fix is a series of works that demonstrate the fundamental need for ‘expressions’ to operate within a coded system that people gain fluency in or comprehension of through repeated exposure to it. Even as these systems might be abstract or intangible, they have proscribed ‘spaces’—framed within virtual domains or sites. These frames support ‘threads’ of thinking, cognition, and analysis. As such, expressions are comprehensible because of elements, referents, or guideposts that are fixed. This series is an attempt to explore various constructions of ‘fixing.’