Yu Ji’s new, site-responsive installation for Parcours transforms the historic banquet room of the Rheinfelderhof into a choreographed intervention utilizing the hotel’s existing furniture. Concrete figures are installed on the chairs and tables, and sculptural fragments sit on top of various horizontal surfaces. Their shapes are inspired by organic forms—cauliflower, snails, shells, and bread—and created from materials like resin, plaster, cement, coral, dried fruit, and wax. Embedded in pieces of glass are chlorophyll pigments from the leaves of fruit plants.
A metal wall piece with a silkscreen print frames the scene, and mirror pieces sat on the floor offer different viewpoints of the space. Yu Ji’s artistic practice involves salvaging found objects and combining them with sculptures created in response. She often plays with light and shadow, highlighting an interplay between reflection and opacity, for instance in screen printing on top of a mirror that is partially obscured by its patina. Interested in spaces charged with geographical and historical narratives, Yu Ji carefully considers the movement of visitors through the room’s architecture.
For the week of Art Basel, Yu Ji has collaborated with a local bakery. As part of her sculptural installation, intentionally overbaked loaves – resembling volcanic rock – are displayed on the tabletops. These charred forms not only contribute visually but also fill the room with the warm, familiar scent of freshly baked bread.
