MAKI Gallery

From Lecture “Possibilities of Imagination”, University of Tokyo, RCAST, 2022

The age of imagination.
... In the last few years, we have heard the word imagination more often. Why is it important now, even though it assumes the existence of unimaginable others and the limits of imagination? ... The difference between the monumental and the abstract, and in between ... These were the core of the After the rainbow*.

*Solo exhibition “EUGENE STUDIO After the rainbow” at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, 20 Nov 2021–23 Feb 2022.

Interview / from “EUGENE STUDIO After the rainbow”

... The Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11 made us aware of the existence of objects that are invisible but undoubtedly real. Around the same time, there was the emergence of an invisible community called SNS. As a result, many Japanese people, including myself, needed to expand their imagination in these two areas uncousiously. Therefore, I believe the “power of imagination” was unavoidably cultivated and installed in us unconsciously. In other words, I believe that the power of imagination was inevitably nurtured and installed in us as a result. Of course, they were also educated about nuclear power and radiation from a young age.

... Furthermore, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the consciousness we acquired over ten years ago has spread worldwide. If there is something to be gained in these past ten years, and if we can connect what we have acquired to move forward, it would be ‘the power of imagination’.

From dialogue

... The starting point is painting, and certain words are the pillars. During my student days, on the way back from seeing Paul Klee with the artist Yukio Fujimoto, I heard the phrase “Painting is engineering.” Professor Fujimoto, who was in charge of the seminar, is not only a researcher of Duchamp but has also taught me about various aspects related to Duchamp. For example, Duchamp’s angles of portraits, and Paul Klee had already discovered the principle of mosaics before the war. Which I interpreted at the age of 20 as meaning that invention, rather than engineering, was what was important. Since then, these words have been at the core of, say, the two-dimensional world.
Painting is not only a possession of identity, special visual effects, and sensibility. While we are stuck in these things, it may be difficult to understand them. Still, invention, even in the smallest details, is the most important thing, and here whether something is ostensibly new or how it is displayed is no longer a major criterion ...

From dialogue

... A curator told me that “Image/Imagine #1 man” was an extreme form of Abstract Expressionism – surrounded by the darkest of paintings. Certainly, Richard Serra is not a sculpture but a series of flat surfaces, and Newman is not a painting but space.

From dialogue

... In a darkroom, folding a continuous sheet of photographic paper into a polyhedron and exposing it to a momentary light. In other words, this is a two-dimensional work made only with light waves and a support medium. Therefore, this photographic paper* and oil painting do not seem to be very different. At times the folds become wrinkled due to humidity and their shadows become the painting. ...For example, how would it appear to bacteria? The reaction between silver and oxidation.

... For example, even a supercomputer needs mesh to operate particle adhesion in the air, and the mesh creates resolution in the cut surface.The operation of the three-dimensional space of light places a heavy load on the CPU. The amount of light in a three-dimensional space, the reflection, attenuation, and absorption rates due to the shape of the space and their fluctuations, and the myriad of equations that exist.
In that sense, this work is the reality of a complex three-dimensional simulation of light particles, no two of which are the same. And since these are reactions of light particles, there is almost no concept of resolution or enlarging here.

From lecture

“No focus, non-parametric.”
... During the museum exhibitions before ..., a difficult situation would have persisted if one were to think about “focus” (focal point). All the works were optically unfocused, which is one common thread that runs through all the works. One artificial intelligence researcher, who toured the exhibition with me, described this state of affairs as a metaphorical non-parametric state of affairs. ...

... I have a hypothesis. When people are in a visual situation where they cannot focus on what they need to see, their brains start ‘imagining’ in conjunction with their vision, creating a special state. This is difficult to happen in everyday life. This may have been one of the languageless criteria that formed the basis of the theories of several important branches of painting – Abstract Expressionism, Impressionism earlier on, and several other Japanese movements. The brain’s response to things that are easy to understand is small. Time becomes shorter, too. In contrast, unfocused things trigger the brain to produce unusual movements.

One of the objectives of my solo exhibition at the museum then was to see how these hypotheses would play out – a slightly different model of eye movement due to multi-point composition and face blindness. ... If I talk about the specific structure between the works, for example, first the white painting series, then the sea garden, then the rainbow painting after the passage, and then “Image/Imagine #1 man,” it’s that kind of composition.
Series of “White Painting” has no place to focus. “Critical” is a mirror with an endless horizon, so the eye has to look far away. Rainbow also needs time to come into focus. And in the ‘imagination’ of a statue in total darkness, the focus disappears completely. The focus comes and goes, either out of focus or the point of view is far away, and eventually, the focus disappears.

... The researcher and I discussed the possibility that this is one of the extremes of human thinking, even from the point of view of artificial intelligence. In contrast, extremely simple reactions such as responding to symbols and words, finding similarities are simple and thoughtful sensors as reactions, so there are already many technological substitutes for them. They are unique to humans, if not unnecessary. I don’t know if non-parametric is the right word, but this was an interesting concept.

From lecture

...There are no images or symbols there that are too strong. And there, the subjective act of imagination can be born, over a long period of time. This is how relationships are formed. That there is room for each to intervene. This swelling is the core of the next society ... Journalism and artworks have different characteristics and essential roles.

From lecture

(Question from an audience member) ... Your “White Painting” Series, has been introduced as a textbook example in prep schools and universities. How did you come up with such a work?

(Kangawa) ... One thing from a completely different story. Pardon me for talking about artificial intelligence, but suppose a moment comes along that could be reproduced with every possible detail, including human beings. What do you think would be the only thing that would not be reproduced until the very end?

Few people can answer this in words, but it is “the time it has held.” I think that those who are natively aware of the advent of things like AI Singularity, AI chatbot, and Midjourney, for example, subconsciously understand this answer. The complex situation we and they are facing right now is on a different dimension from the past “proliferation of images” that was repeatedly mentioned from the 80s until a few years ago

In this period, objects and phenomena without time and facts lose their criteria.In terms of artworks, all reproducible visuals, contexts, and staging, regardless of the complexity and novelty of their expression and depiction, lose their motive for existence. This is because they appear without limit. This would be a sort of shot in the arm.

For example, in “White Painting,” the facts and time that span here cannot be duplicated, and this is not a matter of technique, but it is the subject and form in itself.

... NFT-like? NFT will be an extension of conceptual art. Although still few in number, there are other such artists and works, and there are likely to be more in the future.

From dialogue

... Among various inquiries and proposals, (this exhibition) was also refreshing in terms of its format. For example, the fact that it was an attempt that took several years, the catalog for each work, and the seamless connection with the studio – all of these were done in a natural way. The space itself has a scale that doesn’t feel like a typical gallery.

From dialogue

(On the two places)
... When I think about the techniques/approaches of the exhibition, this is a natural approach. The studio was created with the artworks leading the way, initially unconsciously, but ... While talking to visitors from museums and collectors, both international and local, about an unparalleled place, it was becoming an organic state of being, different from galleries, museums, and even alternative spaces. This way of doing things in my absence is a semi-public sphere, a spontaneous, grounded ecology.