Oscar Tuazon has become known for a sculptural vocabulary, applying lyrics to materials to unite the tough and the malleable. His sculptures radically transform the space of which they occupy, challenging and extending our notion of what space is, while the forms themselves realign the boundaries between architecture and sculpture. Comprised of both natural and industrial materials, Tuazon is able to create a physical tension amongst internal and external, voids and boundaries, and stability and volatility. Referencing minimalist sensibilities, as well as a “do-it-yourself” aesthetic, the present lot is a prime example of Tuazon’s commitment to materiality and spatial tension in the creation of his sculptural conceptions.
I gave my name to it, 2010, is restricted to the floor, fleshing out the skeleton of whatever space that contains it, evoking a structure in wreckage that is struggling against the elements. A product of urban detritus, the present lot is reminiscent of a construction site: “My work has always been really physical, manual labour. And, you know, leaving an actual trace of my body, a handprint in the concrete. There’s an aura that attaches to those indexical gestures you could say”, (quoted in ‘Oscar Tuazon & K8 Hardy: Hard Work’, Parkett, no. 89, November 2011). Comprised of a steel plate and fluorescent lamps, the work combines raw industrial materials that assemble a physical space for its existence, an existence that can appear cold, empty, and cathartic. While the materials used to create the work are starkly rigid and concrete, the luminous aura induced by the fluorescent lamps engages the viewer with what seems to be a radiantly hovering steel plate. This interweaving of textures discerns a material movement that confines and stimulates the static space in which the sculpture is contained. Working within the stylistic language of his forebears, such as Sol LeWitt, Richard Serra, Donald Judd, and Carl Andre, Tuazon creates a new content and concern of Minimalism.