Ryan Oskin: Subdivision

Forming structures driven deep into the soil. Sounds and steel coerce a skeleton into glass and sky. Not quite flight but levitation. Architecture is formed on the backs of people, not wings or birds, but bags and pounds. Areas divulge into treatments and changes. Blue of prints and skies formulate sites and precision. Bungee’s elastic and qualities of print find voice in complex structure of Ryan Oskin’s show Subdivision. Play and interpretations of the gallery’s site; Rubber Factory becomes a new space. New depth, shapes and sizes, walk through, walk around and under. Oskin has constructed a sort of labyrinth. Materials adapted and touched—there’s a lot of room to play with evaluation.

Reacting to the quality of the site, Oskin’s work finds voice. There are no prescriptions; there is only unique process. The pressing meticulousness of artist is present at all times. No one else could make such choices for the works. The artistry of the installation deals in abstraction, but is very rooted in representation. Art has a way of dealing in such dualisms. It cannot be passive. Layering is significant. Matching isn’t real; reinterpretation and possibility drive pleasures of seeing. Being inside feels complex but in a totally removed way. How do we interact? How do we look? Seeing and standing are of utter significance. Like all good structure bound in photographic process and imagery, choreography becomes essential. Subdivision beckons a dance under tightrope.

© Ryan Oskin

© Ryan Oskin

Physicality needs to instigate space. Active configurations and relationships tell us how to connect, or at least leave us the possibility to establish emboldened marriages. Open-ended space is important, and recognizing how we put ourselves into something cannot be diffident. What’s left unoccupied releases control. It’s important to acknowledge that submission, it’s so integral to the photography and installation of Subdivision. Architecture, like photography, is interactive and contemplative. It has potential for surface and excursion. Guts and façade are confused in this way and it’s up to viewers to utilize what stands before them.

Work needs a new life. There needs to be surprises. Visions and realizations are absorbed. Questions assemble inquiry. How many windows are in a building?

Subdivision is on view at Rubber Factory through May 11th. To see more of Ryan Oskin’s work click here.

© Ryan Oskin

© Ryan Oskin

© Ryan Oskin