"no hint" Kohei Sekigawa July 2012nd - July 7th, 2
Venue: Art Gallery T+
Date: December 2012, 7 - January 2, 2012
Exhibitor: Kohei Sekigawa (4th year, Art major, Special curriculum, Printmaking)
Splash water or light
T+review
Looking into the gallery from outside, you see the visitors inside looking around the gallery restlessly, and feeling curious, you decide to step inside.
Once inside, the mystery of the visitor's behavior was solved. There were many cork bullets scattered on the floor. Also, on a display shelf on the wall was a gun that would fire the bullets. Even though I knew it wasn't real, I was still shocked.
I exchanged silent glances with the viewers inside, and was about to turn my attention back to the gallery when I heard a monotone announcement. It was a very matter-of-fact female voice. "Please take the gun in your hand....Pull the lever towards you...." It seemed as if she was explaining how to fire a gun.
You stare at the gun while listening to the announcement, which seems to be a single-minded reminder to the viewer. In your head, you naturally imagine a scene in which you follow the announcement and shoot the gun. You aim the gun, pull the trigger, being careful not to hit the glass, and then... But then you suddenly think, are you really required to follow the announcement and shoot the gun? But if the announcement and the gun are simply "on display," then surely you don't have to follow it, or rather, shouldn't you?
The assumption and preconception that the exhibits are "finished products that should not be touched or moved freely" gets in the way, and we hesitate greatly before actually picking up a gun. Just trying to "pick up something" - an action that we do unconsciously hundreds of times every day - in a gallery requires judgment for each and every action.
Finally, the artist makes the decision to "try firing the gun," and picks up the gun. Unfortunately, however, he does not have enough strength and is unable to fire the gun. He returns the gun to the shelf and looks at the bullets scattered on the floor. Are these the result of the viewer's decision to "fire the gun," or were they placed there intentionally by the artist? Either way, the scattered bullets suggest that "someone may have followed the announcement," and they undoubtedly influence the viewer's decision to act or not. (Okano Emiko)
