Japanese artist Yuji Agematsu has turned the act of collecting street debris into a profound artistic practice, creating miniature sculptures from discarded urban materials that he carefully arranges inside cigarette pack cellophane wrappers. The Judd Foundation is currently presenting two years of Agematsu's work in an exhibition titled "2023-2024," showcasing his unique approach to finding beauty in the mundane objects that most people would simply overlook.
Every day since 1996, Agematsu embarks on deliberate walks through city streets with the specific purpose of collecting what others have discarded. His treasures include dried leaves, lost toys, chewed gum from park benches, glass shards, and cracked sticks – all materials that represent both the human condition and contemporary urban life. Despite no longer smoking cigarettes, Agematsu continues to use the clear cellophane wrappers from cigarette packs as tiny containers for his daily findings, a habit he describes as harder to break than smoking itself.
The artist approaches his arrangement of these found objects with the same careful attention and aesthetic principles as ikebana, the traditional Japanese art of flower arrangement. He seeks balance and harmony within each small composition, using fragments like glass shards or broken sticks to create visual equilibrium. In Agematsu's perspective, these overlooked objects offer profound insights into both individual and collective human experiences, revealing stories about how people live, consume, and interact with their environment.
Agematsu's sculptures, which he calls "zips," measure approximately 3.5 by 2.5 by 2 inches, yet they possess the remarkable ability to capture conditions and experiences far beyond their diminutive size. A rainy spring day might leave layers of mud and condensation pooling at the bottom of the plastic wrapper, while specific candy wrappers can indicate the cultural makeup of particular neighborhoods. As Agematsu explained to The New York Times earlier this year, "Found objects have more power. We can see so many varieties of how to change the shape and color. Weather makes change. Also human ego. Because of the chewing gum, I notice that laughing chewing gum, angry chewing gum, are all different. We make a different shape from a different mood."
The current exhibition presents Agematsu's work at two significant New York locations: 101 Spring Street in SoHo and Gavin Brown's home on Lenox Avenue in Harlem. The Spring Street venue holds particular significance as it was the former home and workspace of renowned minimalist artist Donald Judd – a building that Agematsu himself managed for two decades. This connection adds another layer of meaning to the exhibition, bridging Agematsu's intimate daily practice with the legacy of one of America's most influential contemporary artists.
The exhibition design reflects the temporal nature of Agematsu's practice, with each piece positioned chronologically on white aluminum shelves that cleverly resemble a monthly calendar format. This presentation method emphasizes the artist's decades-long commitment to his daily ritual and allows viewers to trace the evolution of his work through time. The systematic arrangement also highlights how each small sculpture serves as a time capsule, preserving a specific moment and location within the urban landscape.
Through his sustained practice, Agematsu has created what amounts to a visual diary that documents the forces – both controllable and uncontrollable – that impact human lives. His work reveals how even the tiniest remnants of daily existence can tell larger stories about weather patterns, cultural preferences, economic conditions, and human behavior. The pieces serve as miniature monuments to the overlooked aspects of contemporary urban life, transforming what might be considered waste into objects worthy of contemplation and aesthetic appreciation.
"Yuji Agematsu: 2023-2024" continues through August 30, offering visitors the opportunity to engage with nearly three decades of the artist's unique vision. The exhibition demonstrates how sustained attention to the seemingly insignificant can yield profound artistic and philosophical insights, challenging viewers to reconsider their own relationships with the urban environment and the objects they encounter daily.
