[ISEA2002] Artist Statement: Takamitsu Kawarasaki — Consciousness of Water

Artist Statement

Mediaselect programme

October 24 – November 3, Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium / The Museum of Contemporary Art, Nagoya

The works for the exhibition are video installations in front of a large scale pool for dolphins and in the cafe space of the museum. The exhibition is designed to make the audience be conscious of water.

Aquarium version: Into the Water
When you view fish in an aquarium, don’t you feel as though you were swimming yourself? There are times when we imagine the taste to be deliscious. Empathise with the dolphins and their bray as they fly above the water’s surface. People who watch the males (and the females) in the tank have it in their hearts. The ocean. (This happens with fresh water as well). When the idea is expressed this thoroughly, the water in your heart erupts. Always remember the sea is greater. People who think this way are already in the water tank. And the tank is in the ocean. Do you feel it? More or less.

Cafe version: Through the Water
The taste of drinking. When drinking coffee, the first thing to assail you is the aroma. Location also plays a part. It seems as though deciding where to drink causes the aroma to reawaken in your mind. Roasting your own coffee, and especially grinding your own beans, awakens a sensation of having already imbibed. Slurp some down. Touch the aromatic bitterness and the warmth, and feel the aroma rise above your head. Savour the atmosphere when you drink your fill of this kind. View it the same way. Pouring a cup of coffee is like pouring images through your head.

View the artefacts in the museum, and view the sea from the terrace; come and sample new vistas while drinking a little coffee.

  • Takamitsu Kawarasaki,
    1975 Born in Shizuoka
    1997 The 5th International Biennale in Nagoya ARTEC ’97, “bottle No.1 -No.3” Nagoya City Art Museum / Nagoya City Science Museum, Nagoya
    1998 “Is this material correct?”, Gallery Yamaguchi, Tokyo
    1999 MEDIASELECT, “tracer”, Warehouse No.20, Carden Pier in port of Nagoya, Nagoya
    2000 “Kommen Sie nach Hause”, Koln, Germany
    2001 channel N “conversational”, Kyoto Art Center, Kyoto
    2002 “the source”, Gallery 16, Kyoto / Gallery caption, Gifu