Hasta La Ideas

Oscar Tuazon understands the aesthetic power of tension. The Seattle-born sculptor’s latest exhibition, using primarily industrial and found materials, Bend It Till It Breaks builds on this theme with an ambitious installation in France.

Having opened this month, “Bend It” consists of a four-part exhibit area plus the outdoor “sculpture wood.” Tuazon designed his creation to awe visitors with an enormous “nave,” a structure consisting of a heavy concrete slab resting on a foundation of wood and steel that exists in a precarious equilibrium.

The remaining three pieces are a collection of incongruous objects and materials. A tree trunk encased in steel evoking industry’s subjugation of nature is just one of the more obvious examples.

It’s a curious undertaking even if Tuazon’s attempts at explaining the meaning behind his choice of objects in the exhibit is confusing, even nonsensical.

“They can be left outside, all alone,” he says of his sculptures. “They don’t even need to be watched. They don’t need anybody, they can function quite well all alone, useless and inexplicable.”

Despite having attracted rave reviews in his hometown, Tuazon now lives in Paris. This installation requires a short trek out of the city at the Centre international d’art et du paysage in l’île de Vassivière, France.

Check out more images after the jump.

Bend It Till It Breaks

Through 7 February 2010

Centre international d’art et du paysage

87120 Ile de Vassivi&#232re

Beaumont du Lac, France map

tel. +33 05 55 69 27 27