From Kurenboh Collection
2022, February 9th – March 11th
Photographic object
When looking at a photograph, we are accustomed to talking about the subject of the photograph. However, what we are actually seeing is nothing more than a mass of particles (pixels) that have settled on the piece of photographic paper. This transformation a mere feat of ingenuity, the start of the conversation about the photograph is the potential symbolism of the photographic subject. In some sense, the piece of paper is quietly silent, like a dead body. Through digitizing, the supporting object of the photograph is transformed to a screen or a three-dimensional digital print object. However, the idea of “taking a picture” has not changed significantly since Nicéphore Niépce. In a single photograph, the viewers recognize the curse of the stupor of wandering in the night that is “expression” and they too begin to wander. For this exhibit, I have selected a few pieces from the Kurenboh collection thinking about “photographs” from the perspective of things, as “photographic objects.” I hope it will serve as a starting point for the question, “What are we looking at?”
Kurenboh
Works by Ito Masahiro/Hosokura Mayumi/Yokota Daisuke/Tawada Yuki/Nerhol/Heather Oelklaus/Chris McCaw/Christopher Colville/Egene Atget/Arai Takashi/Kanemura Osamu/Araki Nobuyoshi/Kawada Kikuji
1.Aka Photograph
2.Either a computer monitor or perhaps an iPhone screen.
3.Nicéphore Niépce, inventor of photography
4.昏迷暗夜Konmei Anya, a Chinese 4 character compound meaning literally wandering lost in the dark, or bewilderment, stupor, befuddlement. Or: a state of suffering due to entering the ambiguous pressure point that is self-expression.