Tanaka’s unique understanding of objects and materials is reflected in the four photographs that document his Process of Blowing Flour . The images depict the gradual blowing away of a plate of flour held by Tanaka. Because his pose is static throughout the images, his presence is deemphasized and instead the viewer’s attention is drawn to the motion of the flour. The subtle contrast between the fixed and the flowing generates a sense of time and ephemerality, suggesting the infinite possibilities of chance to alter our inflexible perceptions. The aesthetic quality of the flowing flour also evidences the ability of the simplest gesture to generate spectacle.
Koki Tanaka is part of a generation of Japanese artists whose work responded to the economic recession and limited opportunities that beset their country in the early 2000s. Instead of creating monuments, these artists focused on everyday life, transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary by stimulating moments of perceptual awakening. Their social critique was enacted through the spectacular and unexpected combination of materials, humor, and simple actions. Working primarily with found objects and video, Tanaka’s practice reveals hidden links between object and action.
Hako (2006) depicts a mysterious and dystopic landscape where the world becomes flat: distance between different spaces, depth of field and three-dimensional perceptions are canceled...
Milena Bonilla’s discursive practice explores connections among economics, territory, and politics through everyday interventions...
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This work includes sketches for Extrastellar Evaluations , the project she produced at Kadist...
Mario Garcia Torres imagines cinematic devices to replay stories occasionally forgotten by Conceptual art...
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Naoya Hatakeyama’s series Rikuzentakata (2011) documents the devastating aftermath of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan...
Naoya Hatakeyama’s series Rikuzentakata (2011) documents the devastating aftermath of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan...
Physical and mental exploration have been founding elements in Joachim Koester’s research for several years...
The photograph Exquisite Eco Living is part of a larger series titled Executive Properties in which he digitally manipulated the images to insert iconic buildings of Kuala Lumpur in the view of derelict spaces also found in the city...
Oded Hirsch’s video work Nothing New (2012) utilizes seemingly absurdist tropes to raise more trenchant questions about communal action and collective identity in modern day Israel...
Yoneda’s Japanese House (2010) series of photographs depicts buildings constructed in Taiwan during the period of Japanese occupation, between 1895 and 1945...
Mario Garcia Torres films a game of Charades among professional actors guessing the former North Korean dictator’s favorite Hollywood films...