Haumea by Tawatchai Puntusawasdi at the ArtScience Museum (Photo: Tawatchai Puntusawasdi)
In the Minimalism: Space. Light. Object exhibition held at Singapore’s Art Science Museum (the exhibition is also jointly held by the National Gallery Singapore) over the past few months, one noticeable work in the “after minimalism” section is a sphere-shaped installation by Thai artist Tawatchai Puntusawasdi.
Titled Haumea — named after the dwarf planet beyond Neptune’s orbit that lends the sculpture its elliptical shape — the 2016 metal sculpture’s simplicity belies its structural and mathematical complexity. A+ Works of Art gallery has decided to unravel the inspiration, calculations and initial sketches, and metal plate etchings of that work in Superfold. Curated by Bangkok-based art curator and lecturer Vipash Purichanont, the showcase offers a glimpse into Tawatchai’s mathematical process in sculpting, which was first shown as a site-specific commission at the 2018 Bangkok Biennale.
Alluding to his current practice of folding geometric shapes out of paper and — with the use of mathematical calculations and manipulations — sketching monumental sculptures, Superfold reveals the step-by-step precision, as well as the imagination and fabrication necessary to bring to life what has not been seen.
Starting with the “T” of a triangle, involving elements of traditional Chinese furnituremaking, Ortographic projection — the method of representing three-dimensional objects in two-dimensional drawings on a plane — and the marking of sunlight and shadow angles, it is a study of both the technical blueprint and, in a more indirect way, the artist’s work in a crossover of creativity and science.
Tawatchai Puntusawasdi: Superfold, A+ Works of Art, d6-G-8, d6 Trade Centre, KL. 018 333 3399. Tues-Sat, noon-7pm. For more information, see here.
