The sing glass, the singing art

Mika Aoki’s “ Her Songs are Floating” Mika Aoki is a Hokkaido-born artist currently working at the Marunuma Art Park in Japan. Her artwork entitled “ Her Songs are Floating” in an art installation Aoki did in 2008 is about a rusty, old car getting with microorganisms growing all over it. These spores of fungi are made of sculpted glass. There are small lights that illuminate the glass sculptures spread all over the car, but aside from this, the surrounding area is dimmed. The first things that come to mind upon seeing this piece of artwork are the intricate and seemingly random shapes and sizes of the sculptures. It is also obvious from first glance that those sculptures do not seem to belong there on the car. There are almost no colors used in this artwork. The glass used is clear and the car is in dull white. There is, however, some appearance of fragility in the overall art installation.
The glass sculptures are sparingly placed all over the car. The curves of the sculptures are very striking, and they are even more emphasized by the soft white light that illuminates it. They are cell-like abstracts in form. The dimmed surroundings gives off a hint of bluish effect on the light illumination on the glass sculptures. This effect gives off a serene mood, which is, at first, both amusing and perplexing at the same time. The rust on various places on the car is also emphasized by the car’s dull white color. Interestingly, even without immediately realizing the message of the artwork, one can immediately sense that the car is somewhat giving way to the glass sculptures. One would later on realize that the oldness of the car and the newness of the glass sculptures are part of the overall message of the artwork.
Upon closer and longer inspection and reflection, it becomes apparent that Aoki is trying to depict bacterial growth on the car. The glass sculptures represent spores of fungi that seem to overtake the car. By this time, it is understood that the oldness of the car seems to say that old things give way to news growths. It could have a different meaning altogether, or it could be taken at face value — where old things or surfaces become ideal places for fungi growth. By this time, too, it is understood that the light seems to say that these things (microorganisms) are usually unseen and ignored, and one needs to cast light over them to make them go noticed. Aoki might also be trying to say that bacteria are everywhere, but they are always unseen. This is just like the characteristic of the glass used. Glass is usually unnoticed, unless there is enough light that makes it noticeable. Similar to these fungal growths, they are usually unseen, sometimes disregarded, until someone casts enough knowledge about them and make their existence known. The use of an old car instead of the more common decaying matter where bacterial growth is more common could also mean that these microorganisms are everywhere, even on unexpected places.
Overall, this piece of art installation brings the artist’s message across that humans have limited capacity for perception. What humans perceive are only those that are received by the senses. Sometimes, it takes illumination, emphasis, or even knowledge before humans can perceive things that go undetected by the sensory organs. This artwork is effective in relaying the message that there are so many unperceived things that exist, and sometimes, they are beyond one’s imagination.
Work Cited
Aoki, Mika. Her Songs are Floating. Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Hokkaido. Spoon &
Tamago. Web. 30 Jun. 2013.