- Venue
- Charles Burnand Gallery
- Location
- London
Yenti Hsu’s Work No 10 offers a calm and contemplative space in which to slow down and take a closer look. At first glance, the sculptural installation reads as architectural, an arrangement of geometric lines, finely crafted wood, and soft lighting. But it quickly reveals itself as something more responsive, and interactive.
In an age where immersive technologies like VR dominate the way we experience art, Work No 10 takes a quieter, hand-crafted and more tactile path. It doesn’t rely on digital interfaces or headsets, but instead offers a more sensory way of engaging. As an interactive sculpture, it invites the viewer to step inside, to sense, to listen, to embody the space. To understand the work entirely through a direct physical experience.
This is my second encounter with the piece. Shown this time at Charles Burnand Gallery, the installation feels markedly different from its previous presentation at the Truman Brewery’s more commercially oriented space. The gallery’s sensitive lighting and carefully curated group exhibition bring a new clarity and sense of calm to the work. Parts of the sculpture are embellished in a delicate haze of pencil marks. Improvised and intuitive these drawings offer a different and more playful dimension to the rigidity of the main structure.
As the viewer approaches, lit up areas gently respond, moving in tandem with the body. There’s no visible trigger, just a subtle unfolding, like the space is exhaling. This quiet choreography heightens awareness of how we move through, and affect the spaces we occupy.
The materials are minimal but thoughtful: slatted timber, geometric forms, and soft shadows create what is a three-dimensional drawing. The title, Work No 10, hints at a broader series, an ongoing inquiry into constructed space, not as something fixed, but as something that unfolds through interaction.
Hsu encourages us to move slowly, to notice how light behaves, and how textures shift depending on where we stand. The piece doesn’t direct our behaviour, instead it appears to listen and respond . This generosity makes the experience feel deeply personal. Set within Charles Burnand Gallery, a space known for its attention to material and form, Work No 10 resonates with it’s serene but imposing presence, and subtle complexity that invites return.
