“Wumai_09 (upper left)”, “Wumai_011 (upper right)”, “Jingumae Tower Building (lower)”

PROFILE
Born in Kyoto Prefecture in 1994 and raised in Shanghai. Graduated the Contemporary Art and Photography Course at Kyoto University of Art and Design. While in university he studied abroad at L’Ecole Nationale Supérieure de la Photographie in Arles, France. Major achievements include winning the Grand Prix at the KG+ Awards 2018 and the Grand Prix at the sanwacompany Art Award / Art in The House 2019. He currently works primarily in Tokyo.

DATE

“Wumai_09” 2018
“Wumai_011” 2018 
“Jingumae Tower Building” 2019

MEDIUM

“Wumai_09” inkjet print
“Wumai_011” inkjet print
“Jingumae Tower Building” inkjet print, aluminium mounted

DIMENSIONS

“Wumai_09” H105.8×W158.7cm
“Wumai_011” H105.8×W158.7cm
“Jingumae Tower Building” H135×W830cm

STATEMENT

I use photography expansively as a means to compress and transform the information accumulated in one’s physical sensations in urban spaces. By means of an original method through which different times and places are connected and reconstructed, I build a cross-section of the invisible informational stratum that forms scenery, guiding the gaze through the hidden context at the periphery of space.

ABOUT MUSIC AND ART

For whatever reason, I’ve always liked the sound of mokugyo (a type of wooden gong in the shape of a fish) ever since I was little. That solo sound that has a uniform rhythm … it echoes deep in my heart. When producing this series of pictures, instead of using the automated processing software on a computer, I’ve been tapping away at the keyboard with my own fingers in order to process the images. It’s as though I’ve transformed my body into a machine. Then I realize it: all my ears can hear is the sound of a keyboard tapping away. Clackity-clack click click click clack click. The rhythm repeats endlessly without interruption. As the beat of that drum goes on, up on the screen the image is being analyzed and reconstructed. The slight tremors and slip-ups included in that physicality are incorporated as rich noise. These particular works are the product of about a week of that clackity-clack click clack…

Kenryou Gu PLAYLIST