Thank you to Jaqueline Cedar @good_naked for organizing @split_level_fair - it has been great to share works I’ve long admired by @kazukiguzman and @essay.objects (@jeffprokash & @piggys_palace )
Today is the last day of the fair, so come on through if you happen to be in NYC and can make the trip to 102 Madison Ave! Also thanks to @bpkelly89 for including us in his write up in the WSJ qnd @et_photohome for the photographs!
PRESS from @wsj@impulse_magazine_@split_level_fair 🙌
Come by TODAY for our last day
12 - 6 P
@rimadesio_newyork
102 Madison Ave / New York NY
VIP TALKS 11 A - 12 P
OPEN HOURS 12 - 6 P
PERFORMANCE 3 - 3.30 P
@mfreemanwriter[email protected]
Thank you to @bpkelly89@lydianobles@x_jenny_wang for your thoughtful reviews ☀️
ALEX STOLLER
ARTIST ESTATE STUDIO
BLAH BLAH
CHOZIK FAMILY
DEANNA EVANS
ELI KLEIN
ERIN JOHNSON
GOOD NAKED
KELLY MCKENNA
MASSEY KLEIN
MORGAN LEHMAN
NEWCUBE
RO ART SERVICES
SHELTER
SPILL 180
THE SPHINX
And gratitude to our hosts #RimadesioNY and collaborators @drinkdio@sipjeng
@roartservices is delighted to announce participation at @split_level_fair this week, a selection of 15 young galleries championing emerging artists in a design-centered space. Presenting works by Kazuki Guzman @kazukiguzman and artist-duo ESSAY @essay.objects (Jeffrey Prokash @jeffprokash and David Sprecher @piggys_palace ), “Shapes and Sounds” features sculptures selected from 3 separate series on the interplay of sound and form.
Guzman’s “Hammer Study” blends the poetry of language, semiotics of traditional culture, efficiency of contemporary fabrication, and a subject dating back over 3 million years: the hammer. Embracing the ubiquitous tool as a symbol of labor and transformation, the works begin as formal and phonetic interpretations of Japanese onomatopoeia. Each sculpture takes inspiration for title and form in a Japanese expression of mimesis, and are then fabricated by combining 21st century technology with materials, colors, and treatments selected for their traditional cultural symbolism.
Guzman’s “Kon-Kon,” for example, means to illicit the form of a hammer that would produce a clear, hollow knock, reminiscent of polite door-knocking or measured strikes on resonant material. This light weight hammer recognizes the diminished usage of hammers in contemporary times, with its diminutive size and lightweight form-factor more than enough for daily use. Inspired by a cross-peen hammer, “Kon-Kon” is perfect for putting up picture frames on a wall, and features a smaller top-face for starting tacks without risk of hitting one’s fingers.
For information on ESSAY’s work, check the next post, or visit roartservices.com to see more about all the works heading to NY tomorrow!
2/2 SPLIT LEVEL announcement:
ESSAY’s work also finds inspiration in sound and language while blending traditional materials with contemporary fabrication. Presenting works from their “Other Words” and “Rhyming Jar” series, the works take inspiration in the structure of how sounds becomes the components of language and the poetics of how sound forms relationships to forms. The “Other Words” series, which comes out of their exhibition “Glossolalia,” also finds inspiration in a selection from Franny Choi’s poem “How to Let Go of the World”
First transcribing the excerpt into individual phonemes, they then translated each phoneme into an object-based interpretation of textural affinities or poetic resonances, and finally cast the objects into a polymer plaster. After “Glossolalia” ended, ESSAY was left with an array of casts, some of which became part of their “Other Words” series. Explaining how they came to the decision to make them into lamps, David recalled, “The light found resonance with the ghostliness of their chalky plaster forms.”
ESSAY’s second group of works also looks at how sounds are strung together in forming language, but present a different structure to the relationship of shape and sound. The “Rhyming Jar” series began when ESSAY used 3D-printing to create a series of plaster molds to be paired and stacked interchangeably. Any two molds could combine as a pair, and any pair would forming an interchangeable layer. The layers could be stacked in any order or number, with the sequence of layers determining the height and shape of the segmented vessels. Finally assigning each mold a phonetic symbol, the stacking layers strung sounds together like building blocks of language. Pouring porcelain into the molds would then form words as a vessel.
For more information on the works and the event, visit
This Saturday!
5-9 pm🍸
Stop by the offcut showroom to shop a special collection of objects made from scrap by Chicago artists.
All under $100
Snacks, drinks, DIY ornaments. It’ll be grand.
(Bird sculpture by @brickmadeit and tassel by @theweavingmill )
The ESSAY Instagram page @essay.objects is now live. Follow for more updates about my designed objects and collaborative endeavors with David Sprecher(@piggys_palace ).
Hello New York! I’m in NYC this weekend participating in the @newartdealers Flea Market with @piggys_palace . We’ll be selling these little beauties along with a set of larger vessels, modular shelving, wine racks, rock lamps, plaster rats, and other ESSAY wares. The NADA market is Saturday and Sunday 12-6pm at 311 E Broadway (2 Floor) New York, NY. I hope to see you! Follow us on ig @essay.objects for more object related content.
