Rundlauf
Wewerke Pavilion, Münster, Germany, 1995

  In silicone rubber, Matsui finds the perfect material - on the one hand it is uncompromisingly modern in contrast to traditional materials like marble, wood, clay and metal, on the other hand the fluid material mixes easily with pigment, which both precludes laborious painting and makes material and color one. Another advantage is its great flexibility, silicone as a sheet lies heavy and flat, but when fluid can be bent and spread in to sweeping curves.

 

Above all the material allows Matsui to effortlessly wed the parallel paths of constructive and organic structures. While the mold, usually made of aluminium, demands clear precise contours and a definite structure, the rubber silicone paste caste in to it retains a softness that keeps Matsui's production open-ended.
  
 

 His works are not mere pattern samples to articulate the architecture,. Neither are they differentiated versions of minimal works by artists like Carl Andre. Under the smooth surfaces, the sculptures lead secret inner lives, perceptible at the edges and curves - an almost biological existence. Here the possibility of apprehending a works precise form is subliminally "sabotaged". At our feet stare miniature tunnels, arcs and loops flung out and through which seem to flow a slight unease, and barely visible cavities, the insides of which, only our fantasies can explore. 

Manfred Schneckenburger
Spacecatchers in Silicone (extract)

(translation by Charles Worthen / Claude Maurer) 

Rundlauf (1995)
silicone rubber, 7x900x1800cm