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Lot Essay
Roni Horn’s Untitled ("The yes without the no.") represents the artist’s long-standing interest in the changing nature of meaning and perception. An ethereal combination of raw and highly finished glass, this significant sculpture acts in concert with its ever-changing environment to challenge binary oppositions such as rough and smooth, weight and lightness, and fluidity and solidity. Even its title references active participation, taken from Julio Cortázar’s stream-of-consciousness novel, Hopskotch, in which the reader engages individually through choice sequences of chapters. Untitled ("The yes without the no.") was executed in 2009-10, the same period as Well and Truly, her monumental installation of similar glass sculptures debuted at the Kunsthaus Bregenz. The subject of two major European retrospectives earlier this year—at the Museum Ludwig, Cologne and the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humblebaek, Denmark, Horn’s work is also included in the permanent collections of the Tate in London, the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris and the Art Institute of Chicago.
Untitled ("The yes without the no.") is the result of a precise and complex process. Molten glass is poured into a mold, with the sides and bottom of the object taking on the texture of the interior of the mold. As the glass cools over several months, the upper surface bows slightly, in a similar fashion to the meniscus that forms on the surface of water under tension. The cooling process has to be precisely controlled as uneven changes in temperature could result in anomalies forming within the glass. The top is then fire-polished by heating the surface with a torch, resulting in a smooth, homogenous, and highly reflective exterior. The palette is a rich yet calming sky blue which fascinates the eye with hints of lavender. When exposed to the reflections of its surrounding environment, the sculpture invites the viewer to gaze into its optically pristine interior—observing the subtle changes in color and contrast as one moves, as the lights change, as the sun tracks and as the days lengthen.
The present work reflects Horn’s longstanding interest in the protean nature of identity, meaning and perception, as well as the notion of doubling. This duality can be seen in her choice of medium as, scientifically speaking, glass is neither a liquid nor a solid, instead it is technically known as a supercooled liquid, as the atoms within the structure are still moving, but so slowly as to be noticeably visible. This dichotomy continues in the work’s external appearance and the subtle shifts that occur in the viewer’s experience of the work each time it is encountered. Due to the interaction between the work, the viewer and the environment, the sculpture refuses to maintain a fixed identity, changing with each confrontation. “I have this ambition to make the meaning of the work people’s experience of it,” Horn has said, “Every eyewitness is an authority” (R. Horn, quoted by J. Ault, “What a Pair: Roni Horn aka Roni Horn, in Roni Horn: Well and Truly, exh. cat., Kunsthaus Bregenz, 2010, p. 51).
Just as David Hockney was interested in the conceptual challenges of painting water—he relished the task of painting something that is essentially colorless and formless—Horn translates similar ideas into the medium of sculpture, maintaining “this is not trying to be anything but what it is… Most liquids have a resemblance to, a passing resemblance to, water. What you’re looking at—I didn’t make it to look like this—that is the physical reality of glass” (R. Horn, in Y. Dziewior, “A Conversation with Roni Horn/April 12, 2010” in Roni Horn: Well and Truly, exh. cat., Kunsthaus Bregenz, 2010, p.24).
Roni Horn’s work builds on the history of both Minimalism, with its use of industrial materials, and the tradition of process art as practiced by the likes of Eve Hesse, to produce objects which are both substantive and yet ethereal. They are complex and contemplative objects, demanding of our time and attention, yet also simply aesthetically beautiful. Each work is completed by the viewer who brings with them their own personal experience. Thus, the sculpture is as unique as the person who experiences it, and it is the changing appearance of Untitled ("The yes without the no.") where the viewer discovers meaning.
Untitled ("The yes without the no.") is the result of a precise and complex process. Molten glass is poured into a mold, with the sides and bottom of the object taking on the texture of the interior of the mold. As the glass cools over several months, the upper surface bows slightly, in a similar fashion to the meniscus that forms on the surface of water under tension. The cooling process has to be precisely controlled as uneven changes in temperature could result in anomalies forming within the glass. The top is then fire-polished by heating the surface with a torch, resulting in a smooth, homogenous, and highly reflective exterior. The palette is a rich yet calming sky blue which fascinates the eye with hints of lavender. When exposed to the reflections of its surrounding environment, the sculpture invites the viewer to gaze into its optically pristine interior—observing the subtle changes in color and contrast as one moves, as the lights change, as the sun tracks and as the days lengthen.
The present work reflects Horn’s longstanding interest in the protean nature of identity, meaning and perception, as well as the notion of doubling. This duality can be seen in her choice of medium as, scientifically speaking, glass is neither a liquid nor a solid, instead it is technically known as a supercooled liquid, as the atoms within the structure are still moving, but so slowly as to be noticeably visible. This dichotomy continues in the work’s external appearance and the subtle shifts that occur in the viewer’s experience of the work each time it is encountered. Due to the interaction between the work, the viewer and the environment, the sculpture refuses to maintain a fixed identity, changing with each confrontation. “I have this ambition to make the meaning of the work people’s experience of it,” Horn has said, “Every eyewitness is an authority” (R. Horn, quoted by J. Ault, “What a Pair: Roni Horn aka Roni Horn, in Roni Horn: Well and Truly, exh. cat., Kunsthaus Bregenz, 2010, p. 51).
Just as David Hockney was interested in the conceptual challenges of painting water—he relished the task of painting something that is essentially colorless and formless—Horn translates similar ideas into the medium of sculpture, maintaining “this is not trying to be anything but what it is… Most liquids have a resemblance to, a passing resemblance to, water. What you’re looking at—I didn’t make it to look like this—that is the physical reality of glass” (R. Horn, in Y. Dziewior, “A Conversation with Roni Horn/April 12, 2010” in Roni Horn: Well and Truly, exh. cat., Kunsthaus Bregenz, 2010, p.24).
Roni Horn’s work builds on the history of both Minimalism, with its use of industrial materials, and the tradition of process art as practiced by the likes of Eve Hesse, to produce objects which are both substantive and yet ethereal. They are complex and contemplative objects, demanding of our time and attention, yet also simply aesthetically beautiful. Each work is completed by the viewer who brings with them their own personal experience. Thus, the sculpture is as unique as the person who experiences it, and it is the changing appearance of Untitled ("The yes without the no.") where the viewer discovers meaning.