Notes from visit to: Yasumasa Morimura: Ego Obscura
The exhibition includes three decades of work exploring the limits and construct of “the self”. Being his signature practice that of appropriation, Morimura embodies and re-stages western master pieces from the renascence to the modern era, something he began doing in the 80’s by recreating the self-portraits of Vincent Van Gogh fashioning himself after the painter and continued to evolve until now. Instead of digitally altering the existing work he meticulously reconstructs the whole scene inserting his body in place of the original subject, recreating the background as well as the character within the frame, transforming himself into the figure from the past with narratives that fit the present using his own voice to speak from the characters perspective. As a result, a series of large still images together with video performances and objects used during performance have been curated within three rooms at the Japan Society of NY.
His performances include: Rembrandt, Vincent Van Gogh, Maria Antoinette, Las Meninas by Velazquez, Frida Kahlo, Marilyn Monroe among others: https://www.google.com/search?q=yasumasa+morimura&safe=active&rlz=1C1SQJL_enUS788US788&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjSucXn-eDeAhUPJt8KHc2PCqkQ_AUIDigB&biw=1524&bih=707#imgrc=KB5F8A7aMVNTZM:
Coming across (in the subway) an striking image of Morimura himself dressed up as a geisha girl under the title Ego Osbcura, took me to japan society without any previous knowledge about the artist neither the nature of his work.
Encountering such large photographs of very well-known art pieces from the past embodied by somebody else in the present, including a narrative that sounded as if spoken by the original artists translated today by Morimura, made me think about the role of the artist throughout history and how versatile his performances are, being able to adapt and put himself into a variety of space-time realities. He never seems to lose his center by over identifying himself with the characters, on the contrary, he creates an interesting space between being the embodiment and the observer at the same time, resonating with the idea of the self stated by the artist: -“there is nothing essential about the self, but an artificial construct, subject to socio-political tendencies and categories such as: race, gender and nationality”. YM
The way he uses his voice: storytelling in monologue format as a tread that connects every bit and piece of the work, creating an underlying tone- rhythm in dialogue with visual content captures the attention of the audience in a very skillful way. I found myself laughing a lot. Morimura’s embodiment’s of the self are very thrilling!
I don’t see any obvious correlation between my work and Morimura’s work. However, my intention is to be the creative observer of my work instead of identifying the work with the layers of meaning I have laid upon it in the past. So, by looking at Morimura’s approach to the borrowed subjects and how he puts himself as the characters without being over identified with them, but instead, simply using them as a visual tool to communicate his voice and view of the world is very amusing for the approach I intend to have to my work.
He approaches the work with an emphasis on the self, whereas from my side, I create objects that can relate to the self.
His visual content takes shape from staging existing scenarios borrowed from the past since the renaissance to the modern era. My visual content derives from my relationship and experience with the materials translated as geometric patterns and shapes in space using different scales.
In his work the idea of time seems to be dismantled from a linear notion of past-present-future experienced it rather cyclic, as coming from the past- being restated in the present. Seeing well known pieces of art re-staged with a narrative that speaks in contemporary language made the piece more accessible to me, specially the old master pieces (Rembrandt, Vermeer, etc).
Time has been implied in my past sculptures as something repetitive and rhythmic, a consistent pattern tuned with the intervals of nature, a measure of change.
Studio time: Observing magnetic behavior: the attractive (+) and the repulsive (-)
2 magnets in space (still & in motion-videos: m_1, m_2, m_3)
Opposite poles when facing each other (+) (-) = attraction (yanking onto each other)
Same poles facing each other (+) (+) = retraction, resistance between them results in separation (gap between them).
this elementary experiment confirms attraction between opposites but left me wonder about the idea of the repulsive when same poles face each other, concluding: there is no such thing as one magnet repealing or pushing away the other but rather a dissipation of energy creating space between them.
dream journal
levitating during my sleep after performing this experiment with magnets talks about the subtle impact of the exercise within my mind / psyche.
2 magnets moving in space. For this exercise the poles are facing the plane instead of one another, results are: distance remains constant between them when moving them in the same axis, a mirroring effect takes place when pushing one of the magnets around by the use of a metal bar.
when equal forces are applied to equal sources of magnetism confrontations happens immediately followed by withdrawal. Retracting back into stillness.
magnets & iron particles in space (still & in motion- videos mp1, mp2)
particles align perpendicularly (90 degree angle) to the magnets, only those near enough to the source of magnetism connect that way and as they get farther away that connection is no longer visible. Position and distance determine the visibility of the situation.
As magnets move so do particles piling up like a chain of matter all linked by and to this force, it is indeed hard to keep them separate. This cushion like layer of iron particles creates an extra body making attraction and retraction less obvious to the senses, as if all the energy dissipated was absorbed by the cushion while transfer it between particles.
Performance by Rebecca Horn: Keeping hold of those unfaithful legs is about a dialogue between two human bodies in which each participant is partially bandaged with white tape, joined together with strong magnets attached respectably to the outside of his left leg and of her right leg; such is the power of the connection that the two performers extremities together create a three legged/ double-bodied who is only able to advance with wobbling uncertainty and a lot of effort. (the following comparison is limited to a text i have read written by Armin Zweite and images taken from internet.)
Being magnetism one of the main components of this piece lead me to ponder it in relationship to my work. Imagining this piece being performed in space makes me think of something I wrote a while ago:
“Bound by a subtle connection: like a chemical bond and its lasting attraction between atoms. The point of union dwells: where 2 columns unceasingly rest. Evocative of an electromagnetic force, opposite in charge, where the negative electron and the positive proton within the nucleus align”
The fact of these two legs being bonded by such force not only creates a visual image of a third leg but also the idea of an extra alignment and synchronicity that is taking place within each body in space. Suggesting not only a strong connection but also communication that allows movement. Also, the aesthetic of the pieces and garments choose to perform seem to me a metaphor for magnetic behavior, represented by the colors black and white.
Elements of this work that can relate to mine:
-The use of color, black and white suggesting the extreme behavior of magnets.
-The simplicity of the assemblage: wearable magnets attached to bandage folded and placed within a case. Almost immaterial, occupying very minimum space, when used by the performers the objects become a tool for something else. So, the objects are not an end in and of themselves but rather the means for something else: dialogue, movement, alignment, expression etc.
How is this work different from mine?
My explorations with magnetism seem to be revolving around objects and space whereas for this piece it is mainly about subjects -bodies performing in space.
bodybox: an interaction between a body (subject) and a box (object)
Initial thoughts for the interaction:
-confining my body in a bottomless cardboard box (dimensions are calculated upon my body proportions knelling on the floor- 20”W x 40”H)
-attaching 4 magnets to specific areas on each plane of the box corresponding to magnets attached to my body (top of the head-top of the box, wrists- sides of the box, back of the heart-back of the box)
-wearing tight one piece garment together with elastics bands to hold the magnets in place.
- walking-moving around in space.
describing actions (1st & 2nd interaction):
-encountering a lot of restriction within this limited space, my body generated a lot heat when finding myself confined without being able to make big movements, not even able to walk as i initially thought.
-effort to keep the planes aligned and in place.
afterthoughts: there is a big gap between what was imagined and what happened in space
-box dimensions weren’t enough to allow movement
-geometry changed, originally planned to be a cube, when interacting, the independent planes became parallelograms.
video afterthoughts:
-something cracked open from the box exercise as planes independently rising and connecting one another disregarding conventional notions of composition.
winding up/ realizations:
Understanding that my role along this process it has not only to do with making but also with being the creative observer of my own doing. It was very helpful during this month of practice to look at things for what they are rather than recreating patterns of what I thought they were in the past. Re-signifying the work through different lenses
Contextualizing by comparing my work with others has been also very helpful, a practical way to define things. I must say having the opportunity to see the work in person makes comparison much more accessible whereas using images from internet or books felt somehow limited, both valid yet more inspiring to write from experience than from images and texts.
Re-observing magnetic behavior brought about new realizations about the repulsive: There is no such thing as one magnet pushing away the other but instead retracting motion creates space between them. I can see this realization transpiring through other parts of my being, such us in coming to understand my role as a creative observer as well as having the experience of levitation during my sleep.
Based on interactions with the box (exercise), I’ve sensed viscerally what boundaries are. Enacting what I “think” is threatening, confining my self inside a box brought about a lot of heat within but after the 3rd interaction I found myself just sitting inside a box…it wasn’t a big threat after all, I could easily push the planes away and be in open space again. This left me wonder about ideas / beliefs and how they create imprints on the mind, perpetuating itself -recreating stuff over and over again, until the moment it is fully recognized by the body and the mind.
mapping the practice: finding lines of connection, something between expansion and integration
“A hidden structure necessary for forms, a secret signifier necessary for subjects. There are only relations of movement and rest, speed and slowness between elements that are unformed, molecules and particles of all kind. Nothing develops but things arrive late or early, and form this or that assemblage depending on their composition of speed. A plane of immanence, called the plane of nature, a geometrical plane, no longer tied to a mental design but to an abstract design. Its number of dimensions continually increases as what happens happens, but even so it loses nothing of its planitude. It is thus a plane of proliferation, peopling, contagion…”
(text extracted from: memories of a plan(e) maker, chapter 10. 1730: becoming-intense, becoming-animal, becoming-imperceptible. A thousand plateaus, Deluze & Guattari)