“Life doesn’t last; art doesn’t last”
I finally made it up to the Fruitmarket in Edinburgh to see Eva Hesse’s Studioworks. I’ve always been a fan of her work, and the diverse range of ephemeral materials and techniques in this show continue to inspire me.
Fold, pin, pierce, cut, layer, wrap….the physical act of making can create a contemplative space and a more sensory experience for creating work, which I often find myself in during production. Each piece was made intimately with her hands, and in showing these test pieces, the process between thinking and making is revealed. Elements from the cabinets downstairs begin to build up into larger, more active works upstairs. Lying dead in the cabinets, they come alive on the walls, showing the openended nature of her work.
The most fascinating aspect for me was the deterioration and temporal aspect of the work. It is not timeless, in fact, time is built in to the sculpture, and this life span is what makes the art precious.
The works, especially the papier mache pieces, remind me of ancient relics and how museums like Pitt Rivers choose to present their artefacts. It was unknown how Hesse’s test pieces were intended to be encountered, they become indeterminate, and it is up to the curators to make decisions on use and display in light of what is already known about her art.
