whiteout
whiteout 01-05 each
2013
inkjet print
34.7×42.3 cm
Routine/unusual, false/true, visible/invisible --- “Mitate” (replacement, symbolization, or metaphorization) may be a valid means of enabling exchange between various pairs of opposing matters and guiding these matters to have a gently interplaying relationship to each other.
“Mitate” is a traditional technique of expression by which something “A” is replaced with (viewed as) another thing “B”. It was originally a term of literature related to the skill/technique of Chinese poems or Tanka (Japanese traditional 31-syllable poems). As time went by, this technique came to be adopted in other diverse fields. Examples of Mitate are visible sporadically, including 1) Karesansui (dry landscape garden style) which expresses natural landscapes (mountains and rivers) and the universe by arranging white stones/sand, grass, and trees on the garden, and 2) the episode of Rikyu (a tea ceremony master) who used a fish basket or a gourd as a substitute for the vase used during the tea ceremony.
“Mitate” is based on the assumption that there is a common understanding about what is expressed by the object provided by Mitate. Therefore, sharing of the context is indispensable for this technique. Here, we can perceive the overall value arising from the place where the product serves as a node, rather than the individual value of the host (primary) and the guest (subordinate).
In this series, the snow-covered mountain was expressed with a plastic bag from a convenience store to facilitate sharing of the context, with the ultimate goal of attempting the creation of a collective image. The product serves as a device for updating the awareness into metaphysical thinking (vulgarity vs sublimity or living vs death) via the host-guest common context, while simultaneously providing a route of escape from the daily life which tends to become stiff.
whiteout
whiteout 01-05
2013
インクジェットプリント
34.7×42.3 cm
日常／非日常、虚／実、可視／不可視。対置される様々な事象を交換可能にし、緩やかな往還関係へと導く方法として「見立て」は有効な手段かもしれません。
「見立て」は「あるものAを、別のものＢに置き換える（別のものとして見る）」という伝統的な表現手法で、本来は漢詩や和歌の技法からきた文芸用語ですが、時代が下るにつれ様々なジャンルに認めることが出来ます。白い石や砂、草木によって山や川といった自然風景や宇宙を表現した枯山水や、茶の湯において魚篭や瓢箪を花入れに見立てた利休の逸話など、その事例は広く散見できます。
「見立て」はまた、見立てられたものが何を表しているのかという、共通理解が前提となっているため、コンテクストの共有が不可欠です。そこでは主客それぞれの個別的価値ではなく、作品を結節点とする場そのものから生起する総体的価値を見出すことができます。
本シリーズでは、コンテクストを共有するために雪山をコンビニエンスストアの袋によって見立て、そのことで集合的なイメージの生成を試みています。作品は主客共通のコンテクストを経由しつつ、卑俗／崇高、生／死といったメタフィジカルな思考へと認識を更新する一つの装置であると同時に、硬直しがちな日常からの逃走経路でもあります。