SPACE June 2025 (No. 691)
Installation view of Circulation Figures (1972, reproduction in 2011) / ©Kim Hyerin
Exhibition view of ‘Anthony McCall: Works 1972 – 2020’ / ©FUTURA SEOUL
Anthony McCall’s first solo exhibition in Asia is currently on view at FUTURA SEOUL from May 1 to Sep. 7. Often referred to as the ‘sculptor of light’, McCall has been realizing his visionary works since the 1970s—a time when the technology to fully execute his sculpture was still beyond reach. The Solid Light series, symbolic of his oeuvre, is a series of sculptures made by projecting light across fine particles in the air, creating sculptural lines in space. These volumetric forms appear as though light itself has been carved into shape, obtaining visual form. This retrospective traces almost five decades of McCall’s practice—from his earliest experiments to major pieces such as Between You and I (2006), presented at FUTURA SEOUL for the first time at full scale in Korea, and more recent sculptures such as like Skylight (2020). In recognition of his debut in Korea, the FUTURA SEOUL curatorial team has included an archival room at the entrance to the show, offering visitors deeper insights into the artist’s conceptual trajectory. A distinctive feature of this exhibition is its focus on storytelling across McCall’s work, illuminating artworks that have significantly influenced the use of narrative in his career.
The exhibition begins with the Archive Room, a space in which visitors can explore the underlying processes and conceptual foundations of McCall’s work. It continues in the secondfloor gallery, where the viewer first encounters Breath (III) (2011), a drawing that outlines the footprint of the eponymous installation. Featuring elemental geometric forms such as lines, waves, and circles, the piece reflects the minimal and abstract language that defines the Solid Light series. From one side of the exhibition hall, a continuous sound of crashing waves emanates from Traveling Wave (1972, reproduction in 2013). It is a sound installation composed of five hemispherical speakers arranged in a linear configuration on the floor. The stratified layering of sound evokes the physicality and rhythm of the sea. One of McCall’s earliest works, Landscape for Fire (1972), is presented as a video installation documenting a performance in which rows of fuel-filled cans, arranged in a precise 6 × 6 grid, are set alight one by one. The work unfolds as a highly designed narrative of ignition and extinction that unfolds over time. Unlike the spontaneous performances of many artists in the 1970s, this piece was meticulously orchestrated, with exact calculations governing the volume of fuel and the choreography of movement. Ascending the stairs and moving into the exhibition hall, visitors encounter Circulation Figures (1972, reproduction in 2011). Circulation Figures is a performance-based installation composed of crumpled newspapers, mirrors, and projected film. The rhythmic sound of a camera shutter emanates from the video, which also featuring images of McCall alongside a photographer and a film maker seeking to continuously capture one another. The endless process of producing and recirculating images blurs a sense of time and space.
The exhibition then opens up into a darkened space extending 10.8m in height. Between You and I and Skylight are shown in the soaring height of this exhibition hall. Dissatisfied with documenting performances on film, McCall transforms the cinema itself into a performance—the Solid Light series. By eliminating the screen and placing the viewer in direct engagement with the beam of light, he invites viewers into the time and space of the film. Solid Light series draws the viewer in to be a part of the work and facilitates interactions within. As viewers move through the translucent walls of light, they experience the relationship between time and space. They move through a slowing evolving geometry of light, reading artfully designed narratives that illuminate the environment. McCall’s practice gives sculptural form to the intangible, allowing visitors to experience the materiality of light and the passage of time.
