Damien Ortega @Barbican (Jan. 10)

Though we didn't have to be at the Barbican until 7pm, I was keen on spending an ample amount of time in 'Future Beauty: 30 Years of Japanese Fashion' so I arrived at the center in the afternoon. I zipped through Damien Ortega's exhibition in my rush, and unfortunately did not devote a lot of time to each sculptural work. The deconstructed wheel and drum hanging from the ceiling were fun to examine from different angles. I wish there was more space to maneuver around the work however; I wasn't sure if the artist intended for some of these works to be overlapping each other in terms of space. I explained it away as the quick procession of days--events travels in packs after all. Asides from the deconstructed objects, I liked the white block with its constructed shadow of wooden cubes. The wooden blocks looked like they were randomly dispersed next to the large white one, but they were carefully arranged and piled within the boundaries of the latter's shadow on the floor. The minimalistic, basic forms created a physical form for the shadow--and I was briefly reminded of the shadow-related work I saw earlier in the day at the V&A. What a coincidence.