Ken and Julia Yonetani - Sense of Taste at GV Art

Ken and Julia Yonetani - Sense of Taste at GV Art

12 October, 2011
by: Katuschka

Sculptures made from salt and sugar provide some serious food for thought for Kate Weir.

“Salt belongs to the sphere of the divine, and stands far above human". So said Plato, once upon a time. In their new London show at GV Art, Ken and Julia Yonetani are exploring the relationship that humans have with both salt and sugar, manipulating the materials themselves to create some curious and haunting sculptures.

Ken and Julia Yonetani are renowned for their use of natural materials to create works with a sense of ecological responsibility; from clay and wood to an ominous future project called simply ‘Uranium’. On a less reactive scale, Sense of Taste is part of a series involving the five senses, and features coral reefs (Sweet Barrier Reef) constructed like wedding cakes and coated in sugar paste; still life tableaux crafted entirely from salt crystals (Still Life: The Food Bowl) inspired by the still life paintings of Jan De Brueghel and Paul Rubens; and a chandelier made from pearl-like strings of salt crystals referencing the thirteenth century Wieliczka salt mine sculptures in Poland. The show aims to bring to life the environmental issues surrounding these substances, and the lasting consequences of humanity's voracious consumption of the earth's raw materials.  

Still Life features a feast's worth of grapes, fish, bread and lobster, as well as candlesticks, picture frames and Rococco pillars, all made out of salt taken from the Murray Darling Freshwater Research Centre in Australia. Otherwise known as ''Australia's food bowl', it is currently facing a salinity crisis; rising salt levels threatening the local flora and fauna.

Salt has a weighty legacy: civilisations were built and demolished on the salt trade, and its religious symbolism was once so strong that it accompanied pharaohs into the afterlife. These sculptures embody not only these life-preserving and prosperity-denoting qualities but also salt's less salubrious traits; namely the effect of salt production on climate change, food security and the environment.

Sweet Barrier Reef, meanwhile, highlights the damage done by sugar refinery waste: specifically ‘bleaching’ and the depletion of coral in the Great Barrier Reef due to corruption of the delicate chemical balance of sediment. The phosphorescence of the lights and the pale, prehistoric structures create a stark contrast between coral’s usual vibrancy and these ghostly husks. The Yonetanis use sugar as a spectre of our desire and hunger; its contribution to the obesity epidemic and hedonistic mores. It’s the stand-out piece of the show; but without the accompanying performance piece shown at the Venice Bienniale involving virginal dancers and cake, it loses some of its potential impact.  

Salt sculptures may be nothing new – Irina Brzeski, Motoi Yamamoto, Bettina ‘The Salt Queen’ Werner have all employed the medium in one way or another – but with this exhibition, the Yonetanis have brought a host of submerged issues to the surface. These are eerie and sobering reminders that what we might blithely shake on our chips and stir into our tea is, not exactly divine, but hugely important, socially, culturally ane environmentally – not just throughout history, but also today, and for the future.


Ken and Julia Yonetani - Sense of Taste is at GV Art until 22nd November 2011.

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Katuschka