Kwang Young Chun Aggregations and Infinite Blue, Brooklyn Museum

After seeing Kwang Young Chun’s Aggregations at Sundaram Tagore Gallery (read our review of that show), I knew I needed to check out his solo exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum. I expected more of the same style of abstract triangulated paper constructions, but on a larger scale. And I was not disappointed.

Kwang Young Chun: Aggregations. Installation view.

These large other-worldly constructions are formed from small tightly folded prisms of mulberry paper.  This thin and delicate paper is prized as an artistic material but also has mundane uses as wrappers.  Chun primarily sources his paper from old books.

Close-up of Aggregation 15-JL038 . Kwang Young Chun

The freestanding central piece, which I believe was Aggregation 15-JL038 (his titles all rather cryptic alphanumeric combinations), was particularly intense and seemed like a cratered surface of a large asteroid. The remaining pieces were wall-mounted, but still combined light and shadow, roughness and smoothness, in a similar way.

Aggregation 09-D071, Blue (2009)

There is something I find deeply captivating about Chun’s sculptures. They seem like something I might have generated on the computer, but they are made of paper. They seem solid and heavy, but fragile at the same time. I also liked the juxtaposition of blue with the otherwise grayscale elements. I found myself sitting in the middle of the gallery and contemplating each of them for a long time, longer than I usually sit with individual pieces on a whirlwind trip through a museum.

Aggregation 17-NV089 (2017)

Blue seemed to be the color of the day. Even before reaching Kwang Young Chun’s exhibition, I was greeted by Infinite Blue, a survey of art and design objects from the museum’s collection.

Installation view

I have long been drawn to blue – along with purple, it is a color I welcome into my own art and design, and one of the few colors that I wear. It’s also historically a rarer color and one that is not often found in nature (other than the blue tint of the sky and water). The exhibition goes through different places and periods of art and craft incorporating blue, often juxtaposing traditional objects with contemporary art. For example, the Chinese porcelain in the image above was paired with contemporary paintings by Chinese artist Su Xiaobai.

Su Xiaobai. Moonlight Halo, 2013.

I tend to be most drawn to objects that are more abstract and geometric. As such, the section featuring 19th-century American decorative arts did nothing for me. By contrast, I enjoyed seeing a Korean 19th-century porcelain bottle with 20th-century American designs in blue glass.

Installation views

I do, however, have a soft spot for fish.

The most powerful element tying the entire exhibition together was the opening piece, one of Joseph Kosuth’s neon text works 276 (On Color Blue).

Joseph Kosuth. 276 (On Color Blue), 1993.

And this is perhaps a fitting way to close this article. There was more to see and share from this visit to the Brooklyn Museum, but we shall save that for a subsequent article.

Weekend Cat Blogging with Sam Sam: Relaxing and Talking

It’s been a little while since we last checked in with Sam Sam. But this lovely Sunday morning seems like a fine time to do so. It’s a good day for just stretching out and relaxing.

Sam Sam relaxing

Or for sitting on a window sill with filtered light.

It’s good to be a house cat.

Sam Sam is quite talkative, as all of my cats have been. It’s probably because I talk to them all the time, too. In this video you can hear a bit of her voice, as well as her loud purr.

This video only shows a small example of her vocal range – it is quite a challenge to get her to talk on cue, especially with her tendency to poke her nose into anything and everything.

It’s good to be a house cat.

Weekend Cat Blogging with Luna: Belated Birthday

Luna Birthday Card

Finally, we have a free morning, so we are celebrating Luna’s birthday two weeks late. But we’re having fun, and Luna is enjoying getting a bit wasted on catnip. She also received a birthday card from a dear friend of ours.

After a short time, Luna went to sit contentedly in one of her favorite morning spots, under the glass. I am quite happy with this photo (snapped with my iPhone) that captures Luna’s natural beauty in an abstract setting.

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While you’re here, please check out my report from my performance at Spectrum last month in New York. It even has a feline bit at the start.

Weekend Cat Blogging with Luna: Modernist Poses

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Luna has long been comfortable in her modernist surroundings, at it is a common subject of her weekend visits to CatSynth.  In the photo above, she is striking one of her attention-getting cute poses against the circular geometry of the rug and the angular lines of the glass table.

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In those photo, she has a more elegant pose, the classic “reclining cat” from many works of art.  But she also has a little bit of attitude and disdain her expression, probably directed towards me for snapping pictures.


The Carnival of the Cats will be hosted by Ritzi iInfidel.

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

Weekend Cat Blogging with Luna: Under the Glass

Luna under the glass

We’re in the midst of a heatwave in San Francisco, and CatSynth HQ gets exceptionally warm on these days. It’s on warm sunny days like this that Luna is especially of fond of napping underneath glass tables.

It’s been nice featuring Luna three times in the past week on the blog, but hopefully I will have some time for other posts as well, including getting through the backlog of music and art reviews from the past month or so.


Carnival of the Cats will be coming to Pet’s Garden Blog this Sunday.

Weekend Cat Blogging #330 and Photo Hunt: Covered

This week we are reaching back into the archives once again for our combined Weekend Cat Blogging and Photo Hunt. This week’s theme is covered, and we have photos of Luna covered by a glass surface.

She quite enjoys sitting under glass during the daytime. It’s a way to experience the sunshine and feel “inside” at the same time.


Weekend Cat Blogging #330 is hosted by Mind of Mog.

Photo Hunt 285 is hosted by tnchick. The weekend’s theme is covered.

The Carnival of the Cats will be hosted here at CatSynth tomorrow! If you would like to participate, you can use the Handy Carnival Submission page™ or leave us a comment below.

Weekend Cat Blogging #266 and Photo Hunt: Free

For Weekend Cat Blogging #266, we present some photos of Luna relaxing in the dining area.

A contrast of colors, texture and shape.

This is also perhaps one of our weaker attempts to fit the Photo Hunt theme this weekend, which is free. Relaxing in a favorite spot is a fine way to spend free time.


Weekend Cat Blogging #266 is being hosted by LB and Breadchick at The Sour Dough. It also marks the approximate 5th anniversary since WCB was started by a group of mostly food bloggers who set aside a day on the weekend to blog about cats.

The Photo Hunt is hosted as always by tnchick. This week’s theme is free.

The Carnival of the Cats will be hosted by Nikita Cat.

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.