Shizuka Yokomizo
dal 9/4/2004 al 23/4/2004
Segnalato da
9/4/2004
Shizuka Yokomizo
Chapter Gallery, Cardiff
Distance. The focus of Yokomizo's photography and video work is the gap between self and other; the ineffable space that exists between 'me' and 'you'. The object of the artist's scrutiny is almost always a single isolated human being, but her own presence is always also implicated in this process of re-presentation, as, subsequently, is the viewer's.
Distance
The focus of Yokomizo's photography and video work is the gap between self
and other; the ineffable space that exists between 'me' and 'you'. The
object of the artist's scrutiny is almost always a single isolated human
being, but her own presence is always also implicated in this process of
re-presentation, as, subsequently, is the viewer's. The terms of the
encounter between the artist and her 'participant' are meticulously
constructed, and it is the nature of this relationship that defines the
resulting image. Thus, in contrast to the merciless 'stare' of documentary
photography, Yokomizo's images reproduce a strong sense of reciprocity, and
an awareness of one's own presence in relation to another.
In the Stranger series, each photograph shows someone looking out through a
window. The artist has never met any of these people. She selected their
addresses and then wrote an anonymous letter asking if the recipient would
stand at a particular window, alone, with the room lights on, at a specific
time of night so that she could photograph them from the street. The artist
simply promised to be there waiting. If they did not wish to participate
they could close the curtains, while if they chose to open the door to meet
her the photograph would not be used. However, if the mutual contract was
fulfilled, the artist promised to send the participant a print of the
photograph along with her own name, address and telephone number, and the
subject had the choice of whether to allow the image to be exhibited. The
actual face-to-face encounter would last for ten minutes, but then nothing
else was to be exchanged.
In the Untitled (Hitorigoto) series, Yokomizo continues to explore the
tension between the documentary and fictional aspect of photographic
representation. However the artist has placed herself on the other side of
the window and, by collaborating with her friends, she replaces the sense of
physical and emotional distance with a world of intimacy and interiority.
Rather than looking outward to acknowledge the camera the subjects look
inward, apparently absorbed in moments of self-reflection, as if momentarily
unaware of the artist¹s presence. Hitorigoto is an untranslatable Japanese
word that describes the experience of inner thought and dialogue. However
the scenes depicted are entirely constructed by Yokomizo and her
participants. The situations are a combination of the artist's imaginative
visualisation of her friend and the subject's own experience of their
everyday life. The photographs are made with a single, given light source
unique to the setting; an open fridge, a lamp, a window; but the figures
depicted appear to radiate their own inner light, as if more present to
themselves, and thus to us, than the world around them. As a result, there
is a continual dialogue between the theatrical and the real, with the
authenticity of the images difficult to discern.
Forever (and Again) is a two-screen video projection, juxtaposing four
elderly women playing the same Chopin Waltz on their pianos, with scenes of
their homes and gardens. Yokomizo has said of this work, "the music is a
concrete marking of time, it gives tangible form to that which is constantly
moving through us, just as old age is an accumulation of traces of time on
our body. These elderly female pianists provide meaning and beauty to what
they are constantly losing, and provoke thoughts and question about
eternity. I also see these lonely performances juxtaposed with static images
of the players environments as a way to give a sense of solitude, which I
see as a fundamental condition of our being".
Other works in the exhibition include an early video-work, A Boy with his
Father, and two newly commissioned photographic works, Find A Date, using
locally-sourced 'lonely hearts' newspaper columns, which continue the theme
of solitude and the dialogue between private and public realms.
Shizuka Yokomizo was born in Tokyo and lives and works in London. Past
exhibitions include Dear Stranger at The Approach, London, 2000, and Cohan,
Leslie + Browne, New York, 2001, and a solo show at Museo d'Arte
Contemporanea Roma, Italy, 2002. She was included in the Tate Triennial
exhibition, Days Like These, and the touring show Reality Check, organised
by the British Council and The Photographers Gallery, as well as the 50th
Venice Biennale in 2003. She currently has one-person exhibitions in New
York, Tokyo and Tenerife. Distance is her first one-person exhibition in a
public-funded space in the UK.
in the image::Stranger, 1999
For further information contact Hannah Firth on 029 2031 1055
Chapter, Market Road, Cardiff CF5 1QE