Foon Sham, Greater Reston Arts Center, Reston, Virginia
Sculpture Magazine, November Issue, 2008
By Sarah Tanguy
The idea behind Foon Sham's Flow was to create a terrain of mountains and lowlands by collaborating with visitors over the course of the exhibition. The back-and-forth activity was to suggest gift-giving and the contribution of countless immigrants to the U.S. The mountains - five large-scale cones made of plastic foam, wood, terraced cups of water, paraffin, and grass - were the anchors, corresponding to metal, wood, water, fire and earth (the five traditional Chinese elements). Each provided a different solution to a pivotal question in Sham's practice: the translation of organic process through geometric means. The lowlands evolved from clear plastic cups containing wooden blocks, blue-colored water, nails, tea candles, and grass. Visitors were encouraged to take the cups from the windowsills and make their own arrangements on the floor and on the cones. Once a week, Sham came to the gallery to make his own mark on the installation. On the last day, a couple of young women were engrossed in experimentation: When did stacking achieve exquisite balance and when did it lead to chaos? The integrity of the original conceit had yielded to the unpredictability of life. Complex pathways now connected the cones, floor, and even part of the walls. Nails and grass partnered with water-filled cups in the water cone. Wooden blocks were wedged into the nail cone, where nails evoked a garlanded Christmas tree from certain vantages, and from another, spelled out "I love Joe."
Flow retooled aspects of Sham's working method in surprising ways. Throughout his career, meticulous planning and constant adjustment have been his guides. Although this installation involved problem-solving, it also reflected his journey of liberation and years of teaching. Previously, the public had been invited to enter some of his open-work wooden constructions. In the case of the outdoor 20-20-3 Joint, people carved their names and dates on the stacked wooden blocks, acts that Sham accepted as a sign of success rather than vandalism. In Sea of Hope, viewers were invited to add their own commemorative messages to an installation honoring his deceased mother. Flow, however, marked the first time that he ceded artistic control to anonymous collaborators and, in turn, engaged their unforeseen interventions.
"Journey," a concurrent show at Heineman Myers, surveyed Sham's indoor sculpture as a complementary form of personal discovery. In particular, Passage 2 and the maquette Abstract Form emphasized keen design, a passion for wood, and an ongoing exploration of inside and outside. The maquette attested to Sham's ability to create successfully on any scale and have a small work feel monumental. It also expressed his ability to produce marvels of engineering and association. In this case, the double curve of its staggered contour suggested an architectural or topographical structure in motion. The occasional Lucite blocks amid the wooden ones lent translucency, their light-reflecting surfaces dramatically contrasting with the dark passages of the fissure and interstices. The mixing of different colors within a warm, natural palette reached a new high in the curvaceous Passage 2, which alternated closed courses of Australian red gum and other species of hard wood. Here, a curved wooden "dowel" linked a tall, standing component with a second one that met the wall at a slight incline. From the side, the work evoked water flowing downward from a smaller to a larger vessel, even as it played with our sense of gravity and balance.
Both shows revealed Sham as a master stacker, with a nimble mind and agile hand. In Buddhism, flow refers to an expanded state of consciousness, and the Reston installation conveyed this openness to change and transformation. An extended ritual, repeated but never quite the same, the collaboration acquired a spiritual dimension. Even more, the work inspired lasting joy. From mass-produced materials to individual expression, it celebrated the participation in something larger than oneself and the satisfaction of communal creation.
