Untitled

Every performance works a physical transformation over a period of time. This performance transforms corncobs into pearlcobs and inscribes the central arch within a circle of corn. The presence of the human body as part of the work lends an aspect of theatre to the installation, as characters live out a story among its components. There are, however, subtle differences between what is going on here and pure theatre. The setting is more than just backdrop and props, but is part of the narrative. The weights of these three factors—body, scenery, story—are neatly balanced, fusing into a blend so homogeneous that we cease to see them as body, scenery or story. The result is an experience designed to expand our visual capacity by rendering the invisible visible. Forms become producers of semantics and semantics producers of forms. When we view the work, we experience another observer. Tunga’s art mixes baroque and romantic influences. Constructing ambiences laden with strong metaphorical content, the artist wrong-foots us by employing apparently incompatible materials, such as magnets, copper, glass, liquids, etc., for which he achieves renewed meanings à la Duchampsian or surrealist experiments. His work approaches physical, mathematical, philosophical and psychoanalytic questions and very often presents a robust formal and intellectual balance heavily accented with touches of sex, violence and death.