Caoimhghin ÓFraithile: Two Times Ten Midori Harima: Written Image

Two Times Ten is a site-specific abstract architectural structure created for the atrium of the Maiden Lane exhibition space. He states about his work: “My temporary works reflect the transient nature of the world, humanity, and our place within nature.” The temporary quality of the works demands appreciation in the moment and forces the viewer to commit the work to memory.

Midori Harima Artist Statement:

The source of my artistic production lies in my own daily visual experiences with media. I collect images from books, magazines and the internet and convert them into black and white copies; from these copies I construct hollow, figurative sculptures. The hollow figure, its surface covered with fragments of Xeroxed images, corresponds to how we perceive objects in an information intensive society.

By transferring symbolic media images into the sphere of actual existence I aim to shift from automatic, brain-centered understanding triggered by visual information to a holistic experience of seeing which accompanies corporeal and visceral sensation. This process is based on primal experiences from my childhood. I experienced media images and stories by directly relating to them as reality, not understanding them within a stable subject-and-object relationship; this frightened me and shook my foundation. I grew up in late 20th-century Japan exposed to superficial information from all over the world that lacked any genuine connection to its original sources or Japanese traditions. My creations also emerge from a reality constructed with information which has no basis in reality.

Through art, I try to create a place where someone can reconstruct wholeness out of controlled and fragmented information. I am interested in what this wholeness is and how it will be reflected in reality. My aim does not lie in changing the object itself by providing it with substantial quality, quantity and meaning (creating depth), my aim lies in finding a new way of relating to the world by continuously reconsidering the self and analyzing the structures of recognition.

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Two Times Ten and Written Image are curated by Elisabeth Akkerman and sponsored by the Time Equities Inc. (TEI) Art-in-Buildings Program. TEI is committed to enriching the experience of our properties through the Art-in-Buildings Program, an innovative approach that brings contemporary art by emerging and mid-career artists to non-traditional exhibition spaces in the interest of promoting artists, expanding the audience for art, and creating a more interesting environment for our building occupants, residents, and their guests.