A Crystal Forest Springs Up In Japan

Onishi Yasuaki’s vertical emptiness (volume of strings) 2014.

Onishi Yasuaki’s vertical emptiness (volume of strings) combines the calming, nostalgic wonder of Magic Garden Crystals with the unspeakable terror of neighborhood-covering spiderwebs.

After weaving a large ‘bowl’ out of white string, Yasuaki leaves free-hanging fibers to touch down into a huge pool of glue and crystallized urea. He drips additional glue over the string, and through capillary action, the urea creates a glittering crust of crystal stalactites all over the structure.

vertical emptiness (volume of strings) 2014.

vertical emptiness (volume of strings) 2014

Yasuaki has executed virtual emptiness before using tree branches rather than string.

Onishi Yasuaki - vertical emptiness from Kuroyanagi Takashi.

The effectiveness of Yasuaki’s work lies in his ability to point out what isn’t there. Rather like Fred Sandback’s string installations, he works with imagined planes and shapes, drawing out possible connections and trajectories of movement for networks of objects that don’t truly exist.

vertical emptiness (volume of strings) is currently appearing in group exhibition : IN SEARCH OF CRITICAL IMAGINATION

Fukuoka Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan.

You can learn more here. Onishi is also planning a solo exhibition in Tokyo starting February 27th.