Nothing lasts forever
Transformation is at the heart of both architecture and glass art. In Ebeltoft, architectural examples such as the Malt Factory and the hostel have been reinterpreted with respect for the historical context. Glass is a material in constant evolution from ancient processing to today’s focus on recycling.
Glas – Museum of Glass Art in Hack Kampmann’s historic customs building is itself a symbol of this transformation, uniting past and present through a modern extension by 3XN Architects. The extension, whose large windows face the garden with a view of the workshop, is the setting for the exhibition 無常 When You Lose Control, curated by Masahiro Saito and Mette Bielefeldt Bruun.
The exhibition presents six artists, three from Japan and three from Denmark, exploring a very present theme of loss of control in a changing world. The title alludes to the ambiguity of losing one’s overview or footing – an experience that mirrors human vulnerability and adaptability and a topic that seems highly topical with acts of war and planetary challenges on a scale we have never experienced before.
The Japanese title, 無常 (Mujö), means ‘nothing lasts forever’ and emphasises the core message of the exhibition: change is the only constant in a volatile world. Glass as a material can reflect the fragility of the world. It can break easily, as can trust in systems we have taken for granted. But glass is also strong and resilient. It can be recycled and remoulded, pointing to the possibility of renewal and transformation.
About
無常 When You Lose Control at Glas – Museum of Glass Art in Ebeltoft. 11 October 2024 – 9 March 2025
Artists:
Runa Kosogawa (JP)
Hitoshi Kuriyama (JP)
Hidenori Tsumori (JP)
Maria Bang Espersen (DK)
Maria Koshenkova (DK/RU)
Kirstine Roepstorff (DK)
Curated by: Masahiro Saito (JP) and Mette Bielefeldt Bruun (DK)
Fragility, strength and transformation
Runa Kosogawa (JP) has created a work hanging from the ceiling in a metal grid. One hundred tiny glass drops, blown by Kosogawa and containing her breath, hang from separate threads, each representing a day in the artist’s life. The date, place and weather are engraved on each drop, and the threads are coloured with plants found on the respective days. The height of each drop reflects the artist’s mood – and a small part of the glasses were created during Kosogawa’s stay in Ebeltoft. The work is a meditative look at the need to appreciate everyday life and reciprocity with the environment around us.
In Kirstine Roepstorff’s (DK) work A Short Night, glass is used as a container. It consists of vases and amphorae, made in holes in the ground in collaboration with the glass museum’s workshop and arranged in meticulously crafted metal hoops. The objects are part of a tableau of wall reliefs and free-standing steles that are experienced as an altar. The works, which can be used in linked performances, reflect a deep respect for the rhythms of nature and the interconnectedness of the elements. When these come together in a spatial arrangement, we can gather here and share our experiences.
In Maria Koshenkova’s (DK/RU) work Andromeda, the fluid forms of glass meet materials such as rope and metal. The combination evokes a brutal aesthetic where vulnerability and strength collide.
The collision is also present in each glass work, where the contrast between familiar elements and the expressive works tests our imagination about the integration of the material – perhaps our perception of the world is often experienced as a collection of opposing opinions that cannot be easily reconciled.
As in Andromeda, they are also often held in rigid systems that are locked and welded together.
Similar contrasts can be found in the work of Maria Bang Espersen (DK), who explores the limits of glass by letting it meet with incompatible stones. The large glass spheres, which remind me of floating solder, are mounted with stones that have stressed the glass and caused it to crack.
The encounter between the robust stones and the brittle glass, placed in different corners of the exhibition space, emphasises the fragility of the material. And this fragility can also be found in the relief-inspired works that stand freely in the space in frames made of pine wood and angle brackets. Both artists invite us to reflect on how control and chaos coexist.
Hidenori Tsumori’s (JP) work explores a similar theme in the encounter between glass and ceramic clay.
Its structures resemble cracks in the earth’s crust and focus on the (im)balance between stability and fragility.
On its podium alone, it is experienced as a frozen three-dimensional image of the constant change of nature and society. The details are worth stopping, scrutinising and pondering.
Although Hitoshi Kuriyama’s (JP) work Noise of the Void is placed by the large window, it by no means disappears. In the work, flickering red neon tubes create an intense unease that spreads throughout the exhibition space in the darkness.
The vibrating gas sends an alarming light into the room. It’s orderly chaos as the neon gas is contained within the carefully crafted glass tubes with rhythmic indentations, but the unease is contagious and the crackling sound reminds us of the duality of the world, order and chaos – and how close the two are.
Order and Chaos
In the exhibition, it is clear that the performative aspects and the inherent properties of glass play a crucial role. Glass becomes a metaphor for a world that balances between fragility and strength, and the theme is perfectly realised through the material.
How wonderful it would have been if the individual works had been given more space. Individually, they contain elements that seem too close, and the conversation between the works is intense. Kosogawa’s glass containers are streaked red by Kuriyama’s neon work, and I would have liked the full spatial experience of Roepstorff’s tableau. It’s difficult as the room is a walk-through space, with stairs, doors and a large window. It seems chaotic, but as the exhibited works show us how loss of control can be a source of creativity, the spatial premise may be intentional.
Despite the physical setting, the glass in the exhibition feels like a mirror of the world. When You Lose Control manages to bring together Japanese and Danish perspectives in an exploration of the loss of control as both fear and opportunity. The material becomes a symbol of a world in constant transformation. Through the works, we are encouraged to be present, listen and be inspired. The works‘ insistence on spatial experience is reminiscent of a Japanese tea ceremony where you have to be present, enjoy the moment and others’ curation of the selected elements.
Theme: Outlook
Artist-in-residence, exhibitions and competitions in international contexts have always been part of the DNA of craft artists and designers. What stories do they take with them? What knowledge do they bring back home?
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