At the edge of the gallery space a bi-colored pirouetting garden gnome perches precariously on the corner of an eight foot wall. On the floor below very near the same corner and close and to the edge of the painted exhibiting space, sitting maybe around six inches high is a small patch of moss crowned by a large mushroom which is entirely composed of the same two colored materials as its gallery-diving companion above. This new work by 27-year old international exhibiting artist Mayuko Kono is briefly on display at the Visual Arts Building of The Pennsylvania State University. Kono's sleepy suicidal creation, currently labeled Untitled, is propelling itself into all kinds of fantastical narratives. Arousing dialogs about materiality, gallery context, objectivity and the magical powers of gnomes this new sculpture is relentless in offering many imaginative inquiries.
Approaching for analysis, after the initial "OMG!" reaction, it would appear that the objects are made of two different colored plastics, a horrid dark forest green and a banal off-white material have been combined and sculpted together to represent the complete forms of a high-diving gnome and a oversized mushroom. The gestures of the two objects begin to magically activate the stark gallery environment. The activation comes out of several juxtapositions present in Kono's piece; between the painted and unpainted floor, the gallery floor and walls, the walls and the corner, between the colors of the object as well as the gnome and his 'shroom. The resulting orientation is anything but a passive sleepy lawn decoration posited in a gallery!
This Duchampian recontextualization is fantastically magical despite its suicidal tendencies. Yet, is Kono's object trying to call our attention to something that is often overlooked in our white gallery spaces and green front yards? We may never know the answer and think of snuffing it ourselves, but that isn't the point. It might be the fact that there is a lot of magic in our material world. Perhaps Kono is interested in forcing together these different materials of our world so we can find the active magic at the edge conjoined spaces.
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