Relatum (Iron Field), 1969 - 2018

Basel 2018
Relatum (Iron Field)

Pace Gallery

Installation
Steel wire, sand
Using sand as its base, Relatum (Iron Field) is exemplary of Lee Ufan’s practice of working with raw, natural, and industrial elements. The field of narrow steel wires, subtly manipulated by the artist and stretching vertically from the ground, emphasizes the relationship between space, perception, and object. Previously conceived and installed in 1969/70 and in 1994, the work develops from Lee’s conceptual approach to materiality and his expression of the relationships between industry and nature, object and human. Each sculpture in Lee’s ‘Relatum’ series is centered on the idea of a dialogue between object and space. The viewer plays an active, equal role as a defining aspect of the work, prompting the contemplation of abstract forms and their relation to one another. Relatum (Iron Field) deepens the awareness of Lee’s site-conditioned practice; as one of the pioneers of the Mono-ha movement in Japan, Lee worked concurrently with the development of the Minimal and Conceptual art movements in the United States and Great Britain.