無限に細分化され得る一瞬の、どこを一瞬と感じたのだろう。
無限に変化し続ける色彩の、どれをその色だと信じたのだろう。
私が見ているものは何だろう。
私は本当にそれを見ているのだろうか。
それは本当は何なのだろう。
無限に変化し続ける色彩の、どれをその色だと信じたのだろう。
私が見ているものは何だろう。
私は本当にそれを見ているのだろうか。
それは本当は何なのだろう。
すべての風景は、それを見つめる各個人の精神や心理が投影されることによって初めて完成するのではないでしょうか。客観的事実や事象は、各局面の出来事のうちの最大公約数的なものに過ぎず、その範囲に収まらない全く個人的な体験の中に、風景の本質が潜んでいるように思えるのです。
心と精神の状態が投影あるいは反映されて、改めて認識される風景。我々ひとりひとりが人生の中で体験する風景はすべて心象風景であり、我々ひとりひとりの心の内に起こるドラマは、すべてそのまま神話と成り得るのではないかと思います。
人の視神経を通じ脳によって視覚として捉えられ認識された風景を、写真撮影という行為により任意のフレームの中に切り取ること。それが、私の作品製作のプロセスに於ける最初の一手です。ちょっと気になったもの、立ち止まってじっと見つめたくなったもの、それらをただ撮影します。撮影した写真は暫くの間そのまま放っておきます。時間が経ち、撮影した瞬間の記憶がすっかり曖昧になってしまった頃に、それらの写真たちはモチーフとしての魅力を新たに放ち始めるのです。
それらの写真たちは、ある事象の目撃証拠であり、そのときに生じた微妙な心理を確実に残しているものです。既にそこにある出来上がった写真を、新たに出会った風景として再スキャンし、“記録された証拠”と“証拠が残っていない記憶”との隙間に隠れている「体験の本質」を炙り出していくことが、作品制作における私のモチベーションです。
日常の風景の一部をトリミングによって抽出した写真。その全部または一部を更に拡大し増幅することによって現れてくる色彩とフォルム。それらは、我々の傍らに常に存在しながらも隠されていたものです。色彩を炙り出し増幅することで、リアルなものたちが隠し続けるもうひとつの世界が明らかになります。その世界では材質感が希薄になり、光に含まれる色彩が作り出す不可思議なフォルムがどこまでも連続しています。
我々が意識を向けずにいる間は、色も形も無限の可能性を孕んだまま闇の中で息を潜めているだけです。我々が意識を向けることによって初めて光が注がれ、色彩がそこに現れます。光とは、我々の前向きな意識そのものです。あるポイントに眼を向け意識を注いだその瞬間に熱を発し、火薬が爆発するように一瞬だけ輝きを増します。そして闇は取り払われ、予期せぬ色彩と形態が目の前に現れます。普段の生活の中で我々が眼にしている（と、信じ込んでいる）色彩は、風景が潜在的に持っている色彩のほんの一部分にすぎないこと、異次元と日常の間には境目などないことに気付くのです。
大坪 一道
Which of the infinitely subdividable moments did he perceive as a moment?
Which of the endlessly changing colors did I believe to be the color?
What am I seeing?
Am I really seeing it?
What is it really?
Which of the endlessly changing colors did I believe to be the color?
What am I seeing?
Am I really seeing it?
What is it really?
I believe that all landscapes are completed only when the spirit and psychology of each individual who gazes upon them is projected. Objective facts and events are only the greatest common denominator of the events of each phase, and it seems to me that the essence of the landscape lies within a totally personal experience that does not fit within that scope.
Landscapes that are projected or reflected by our state of mind and spirit, and recognized anew. The landscapes that each of us experiences in our lives are all mental landscapes, and the dramas that occur in the mind of each of us can all be myths as they are.
The act of photography allows me to capture in an arbitrary frame the landscapes that are perceived as visual images by the brain through the optic nerve. This is the first step in the process of creating my work. I simply photograph things that catch my attention, things that make me want to stop and stare at them. I leave the photo alone for a while. As time goes by and the memory of the moment of taking the pictures becomes vague, the pictures begin to take on a new charm as motifs.
These photographs are eyewitness evidence of an event, and they certainly preserve the subtle psychology that occurred at that time. By re-scanning the photographs that are already there as newly encountered landscapes, I uncover the “essence of the experience” hidden in the gap between “recorded evidence” and “memories for which no evidence remains. My motivation in creating works of art is to discover the “essence of experience” hidden in the gap between “recorded evidence” and “memories for which no evidence remains.
A photograph of a portion of an everyday scene is extracted by cropping. The colors and forms that emerge when all or part of it is further enlarged and amplified. These are things that have always existed beside us, but have been hidden. By revealing and amplifying the colors, another world that real things continue to hide is revealed. In this world, the sense of materiality is diluted, and the mysterious forms created by the colors in the light are endlessly continuous.
As long as we are not conscious of them, colors and forms remain hidden in the darkness with infinite possibilities. It is only when we become aware of them that light pours forth and color appears. Light is our positive consciousness itself. At the moment we focus our eyes on a point and pour our consciousness into it, it generates heat and shines brightly for a moment, like gunpowder exploding. Then darkness is lifted and unexpected colors and forms appear before our eyes. We realize that the colors we see (or believe we see) in our daily lives are only a small part of the latent colors of the landscape, and that there is no boundary between another dimension and the everyday.
Landscapes that are projected or reflected by our state of mind and spirit, and recognized anew. The landscapes that each of us experiences in our lives are all mental landscapes, and the dramas that occur in the mind of each of us can all be myths as they are.
The act of photography allows me to capture in an arbitrary frame the landscapes that are perceived as visual images by the brain through the optic nerve. This is the first step in the process of creating my work. I simply photograph things that catch my attention, things that make me want to stop and stare at them. I leave the photo alone for a while. As time goes by and the memory of the moment of taking the pictures becomes vague, the pictures begin to take on a new charm as motifs.
These photographs are eyewitness evidence of an event, and they certainly preserve the subtle psychology that occurred at that time. By re-scanning the photographs that are already there as newly encountered landscapes, I uncover the “essence of the experience” hidden in the gap between “recorded evidence” and “memories for which no evidence remains. My motivation in creating works of art is to discover the “essence of experience” hidden in the gap between “recorded evidence” and “memories for which no evidence remains.
A photograph of a portion of an everyday scene is extracted by cropping. The colors and forms that emerge when all or part of it is further enlarged and amplified. These are things that have always existed beside us, but have been hidden. By revealing and amplifying the colors, another world that real things continue to hide is revealed. In this world, the sense of materiality is diluted, and the mysterious forms created by the colors in the light are endlessly continuous.
As long as we are not conscious of them, colors and forms remain hidden in the darkness with infinite possibilities. It is only when we become aware of them that light pours forth and color appears. Light is our positive consciousness itself. At the moment we focus our eyes on a point and pour our consciousness into it, it generates heat and shines brightly for a moment, like gunpowder exploding. Then darkness is lifted and unexpected colors and forms appear before our eyes. We realize that the colors we see (or believe we see) in our daily lives are only a small part of the latent colors of the landscape, and that there is no boundary between another dimension and the everyday.
Kazumichi Otsubo
© 2018 KAZUMICHI OTSUBO