LUZIA VOGT: SUGAR

Continuing my projects Idylle and Instant Idylle I am now focusing on the food product sugar, which is very important and ambivalent to me. On one hand it supplies me with a lot of energy, on the other hand it makes me feel good. I am fascinated by sugar. Sugar is available nearly all over the world. In Western civilisation sugar is omnipresent, obvious and hidden in our daily nutrition. This substance is a cultural achievement. It has a long history of changing relations between cultures and people.

My work is treating the subject of sugar. Partly I work with children toys made of wood, I combine them in a playful or degenerative way, I cover them with liquid synthetic material and sprinkle them over with grinded plastics (Exzess). Another work consists of necklaces made of white lolly sticks, arranged in the shape of sugar crystals from scientific images. These images turn into differently wearable necklaces (kristallin).

White brooches made of lolly sticks showing single words, so called homophones that highlight different aspects of sugar, depending in which language you read each word.

With computer aided design (CAD) I constructed 3-d crystals from images showing saccharose crystals. Combining those crystals I designed a row of bracelets that look like an abundant display of sweets (Zuckerkristalle). The bracelets with the word sugar in different languages give the impression of sugar icing (Zucker – sugar etc.). Both groups of bracelets are pure white like processed sugar. While moving one can feel it constantly around the wrist.
Sugar containers get their forms from local grown sugar beets. I cut some of the beets in the upper, others in the lower part before making negative forms out of plaster. By pouring bone china porcelain in these forms I produce different new sugar containers. The lid is made of white Carrara marble that glitters like sugar on the rough top part.