Hard Breath V.1
3000 glass test tubes, fluorescent light bulbs,
dimensions variable.
Installation: University of New Mexico Art Museum
Tension grips the spine as our eyes glide over the undulating surface of test tubes. A step too hard, a breath too strong and we send them all crashing down. The vulnerability of this installation echoes the exploration of ephemeral fragility that is a running theme through Logan Bellew’s work. Through his installation, the gallery space becomes a three-dimensional, potentially – and if so, tragically – kinetic abstraction of the delicate nature of health and the human body. The elegant organic forms created by clusters of tiny glass vessels references our complex cellular structures. As the multiplication of the individual test tube speaks to the living cell’s ability to replicate, we are also reminded at how easily it can all fall apart.The macrobiotic forms of frail glass activate the room as they convulse over the floor. The danger and ephemeral nature of unsecured glass delicately occupying open spaces makes us conscious of our physical relationship to that space and fosters a visceral reaction that can only be articulated through great sculpture. The subject matter speaks to fragility of life distilled down in each lonesome vial, a vibration away from becoming a pile of shattered glass. But for now they float, a dream of perfect stasis.
Christian Waguespack, Curator of 20th Century Art, New Mexico Museum of Art.