TAB Event - Susumu Shimonishi "I am, I am"

Susumu Shimonishi "I am, I am"

This event has ended.
At INAX Gallery 1 & 2
Media: Video installation, Art Talk

Susumu Shimonishi is a 31 year old video artist with a unique sense of humor.
In these bird's eye views of large traffic intersections in the city, throngs of people come and go each time the traffic light changes. Although this is a common sight, Shimonishi captures it using an offbeat, unexpected perspective, as if one were riding a balloon floating overhead and looking down at the scene, giving audiences the luxury of savoring the spectacle in a relaxed manner, while the people below with their sincere expressions become aware of eyes (Shimonishi's) watching from above.
Then, as the traffic light turns red, the image suddenly draws near to Shimonishi's hand with a violent shake and tremor, as if he were reeling in a fish caught in his net. In an instant Shimonishi's face appears before us, the cars come and go, and the short sightseeing flight comes to an end.
With their dynamic viewpoints, the sense of speed in the little more than one minute that the light flashes green, the sense of crisis in the frenetic coming and going of vehicles, the work induces by turns loss, disorientation, surprise and alarm in the viewer, with a harrowing sense of drama and subsequent relief as one "returns" to earth safe and sound with a cathartic smile.

Artist Talk: July 1st (Tue) 18:00-19:00