Untitled 2014

Curator: We are looking at an untitled piece from 2014 by Yui Yaegashi. It presents an intriguing geometric composition. What catches your eye initially? Editor: The simplicity is striking. Just a handful of lines on what appears to be a textured white field. It's minimalist to the point of almost disappearing. I wonder if that's intentional—a quiet resistance to the noise of contemporary life? Curator: That’s an interesting starting point. Considering its minimalist approach, Yaegashi's work plays with a visual language that's been developed for much of the 20th century. It invites interpretation through its almost architectural rendering. What role does the gallery space play when encountering a work so reductive? Editor: For me, context is everything. Is this work intended to blend into the architecture or to disrupt it? Considering broader dialogues about representation, whose voices get amplified, and whose are intentionally muted in the canon. An activist approach might push us to examine that apparent ‘whiteness’ as a purposeful visual choice, and interrogate that reading. Curator: Absolutely. The institutional framing invites that level of critical inquiry. And in line with formalist theory, it asks viewers to contemplate on form and perception as social constructs, but that might ignore so many cultural contexts, too. Editor: And that very "social construct" often privileges certain voices. Perhaps a reading could include thoughts about labor too. Is it hand-drawn? Machine-made? Curator: Upon closer inspection, you can detect the slight imperfections of a hand-drawn line, suggesting a deliberate choice to retain a human element within this abstraction. Do you think it succeeds, or does it fall into some mannerism of claiming authenticity? Editor: I wonder… it prompts the question of whether the artwork functions as an invitation for dialogue or as a definitive statement on presence and absence. As a viewer I am constantly reminded of that interplay and tension. Curator: The power lies in its subtlety, its resistance to easy categorization, as both its history and socio-political contexts play key roles in shaping its public persona and challenging dominant perspectives in today’s globalized and digitized art world. Editor: Precisely, and hopefully encouraging us all to ask who defines what ‘simple’ and ‘white’ actually mean.