“An offering to the god of art”

This is an audacious statement. However, if I were to summarize this project and thus think about an appropriate preface these are the only words that come to mind. Essentially this is what I have done. I have cut and chipped away other artist’s works (catalogs and the like), dissecting the work and transforming it through the filter of my interpretation.

This project is not a way to express myself by using these catalogs to create fancy objects or collages or secretly insert myself into the work like a trompe l'oeil, nor sculpt using the books as a material. To start with, it was necessary for me to determine within myself the reason, the audience and the goal that made it necessary for me to do the work. What I arrived at was the sentence above.

The project began with a proposal from Glenn Fuhrman who I am fortunate to have as the curator for this show. We visited several bookshops together and picked out 35 candidate books, finally from those I chose 24 for the exhibit.The project began with a proposal from Glenn Fuhrman who I am fortunate to have as the curator for this show. We visited several bookshops together and picked out 35 candidate books, finally from those I chose 24 for the exhibit.

The process of creation was divided into roughly three stages. First, I earnestly established a deep respect for the artists and verified what they expressed through their art. After assimilating that information I decided on the theme (title) that needed to be expressed. Through a filter, the filter being me, the work was made while cutting as though I was having a dialogue with each single page.

When cutting something from the back I didn’t know what kind of image would appear next. Each time I decided to cut away or to leave behind and the process continued to a point where the book was on the verge of destruction, and then following my theme I re-constructed. Finally, while I cleary remained in the work as a filter, the essence of the artist was emphasized. It became a collaboration for the first time when these two things were balanced. I attempted to sublimate each to create a new “work”.

List of the works

His heart, his life: Andy Warhol

Collected Beauties: Damien Hirst

Art Victims: Damien Hirst

Prologue: Sugimoto + Foer

Sculpture: Richard Serra

Spiritual America: Richard Prince

Crash!: Takashi Murakami

Kiru- Cut : Egon Schiele

In the Studio: Arberto Giacometti

Current - War Cut: Gerhard Richter

Current - A Private Atlas: Gerhard Richter

In the bathtub?!: Jeff Koons

Diamond Dust Shoes: Andy Warhol

Warning!: Richard Pettibone

Sailing to...: Cy Twombly

Anatomy of Love: John Currin

Listning to Tom Freidman: Tom Freidman

Thoughts on Tom Freidman: Tom Freidman

Beautiful Inside of My Head Forever: Damien Hirst

Dots on Dots and Leyers: Roy Lichtenstein

To Perfect Lovers: Felix Gonzalez-Torres

A Study of Robert Therrein: Robert Therrien

Double sides: Girbert & George

Artists, Believe in Yourself.: Piotr Uklanski

”TIME LAG" show, 2011 in Japan

Phoneme: Lee Ufan

Into the World Processor : Ingo Günther

Rain : Tatsuo Miyajima

Today -A Study of On Kawara- : On Kawara

On-Off Kawara : Candida Höfer, On Kawara

The Sand -The Americans-: Robert Frank

The World: Gempei Akasegawa