“Living Room Art”
I have displayed contemporary artworks, which I can usually appreciate only at museums and galleries, in my home (in an ordinary living space). I think it is a luxury to enjoy these artworks in this way, at home together with the artists who created them, and to photograph them. There were several patterns I took. My children, upon coming into the scene, began playing with the artworks, and I shot them. Some pictures were strictly organized and staged, while others were impromptu due to lack of time. I enjoyed photographing them all. The most difficult part was to meet with artworks or artists that perfectly fitted my image. It took me five years to work on six collaborations with five artists. As a result, my children grew, the rooms changed, and different nuances were added to the initial plan to create “interesting and powerful images.” Now, all five artists are working actively.
For several years, I have explored mono-chrome fine prints, and probably as a reaction, the theme of a “Living Room Art” is a “creation of large images.” The width of a print is limited to one meter. I wasn’t very happy about pasting together beautiful pictures. Eventually, I tried to put together many A4-size prints on a Macintosh color printer. Contrary to photos in which particles get rougher when enlarged, images printed by a color printer could maintain the same number of dots within one square inch, and the quality of the image was unexpectedly high even when the print-out was enlarged. This discovery was a pleasant surprise. If I make many prints, I could produce real-size images, and by using different types of printer, I could obtain expressions similar to photographs. As I intend to continue this project, I would like anyone who is interested in collaborating with me to send information on their solo-exhibitions.
Selecting judge: Fumio Nanjo
There are some other pictures depicting artists, but this work portrays a unique world by placing artworks and artists in an ordinary environment. The personality of each artist in the pictures is interesting. The artworks look filled with nuances and meanings that are different from those in a usual gallery setting. The large size of the work is also a plus point for the selection. The large photo (bigger than the small room) communicates the atmosphere well. The overall playfulness and simple ordinariness are well expressed in the surrealistic scene. The positive effect of this work stands out among all the gloomy photos. The participating artists are up-and-coming in the field of contemporary art, and those who know them can feel that it is contemporary. The colors look subdued because they are color photocopied. The pictures would look different if they were printed, and I would like to see them. I don’t see the necessity to make only one picture monochrome. I would suggest that he continue to take photos in this line to compile a book of photographs.
