Kohei NAWA: Manifold Document
KOHEI, NAWA, MANIFOLD, 2013
Period | 5 June- 7 July, 2013
Venue | Arario Gallery Cheonan
Works | 3 Videos, 4 Sculpture
A Super-scale Sculpture entitled Manifold by Kohei Nawa (b. 1975, Japan) will be installed at Sculpture Garden in front of SHINSEGAE CHUNGCHEONG DEPARTMENT STORE in June of 2013. About 13m in height and 27 ton of weight, this piece has been produced for 3 years in Chinese and Japanese factories and has been devided into 70 parts, shipped to Korea. Before opening Manifold, Arario Gallery Cheonan will present documentary films which show the manufacturing process of Manifold. The audience also will be able to see his newest sculpture series “Trans”.
A Super-scale Sculpture entitled Manifold by Kohei Nawa (b. 1975, Japan) will be installed at Sculpture Garden in front of SHINSEGAE CHUNGCHEONG DEPARTMENT STORE in June of 2013. Before opening Manifold, Arario Gallery Cheonan will present documentary films which show the manufacturing process of Manifold in last 3 years. Visitors also will be able to see his newest sculpture series “Trans”. Manifold, with key motifs including information, substance and energy, takes on the form of various spheres pulling in one another, fusing together and swelling up to the point of near-explosion. This external dimension alludes to a state in which various information and substances rise out of the ground, powered up, reaching the apogee on the ground. About 13m in height and 27 ton of weight, this piece has been produced for 3 years in Chinese and Japanese factories. After mocking up in Yokohama, Japan, this work has been devided into 70 parts and shipped to Korea. Sixteen large trucks transported the sculpture, and the installation period ranges over 102 days. Manifold will be permanently installed in front of the main entrance to the SHINSEGAE CHUNGCHEONG DEPARTMENT STORE and open on June 14th.
The three documentaries presented in this exhibition are arranged to help the viewers understand and empathize with Manifold and Kohei Nawa’s art world. “Inujima” featuring the production process of Scum, the piece that contains the initial inspiration for Manifold, “SANDWICH” which describes the dynamic environment of his production studio “SANDWICH Platform,” and “Manifold” tracing the 1000 days long journey from Manifold’s production to installation, will be introduced. Especially, “Manifold” which will be presented on a large five-channel screen, was filmed with 12 CCTVs installed at construction sites as well as korean and korean and Japanese photographer. The viewers will have a realistic experience of the production site that was heavily veiled during the installation period. “Trans,” featured along with video work, is a sculpture series produced by scanning people or objects in 3D and reconstructing the result using the “Texture Mapping” method. This technique, a kind of CG technology, inputs data on to x, y and z axes, inserts transformative variables and extracts unique surface textures. In the process, the original object is dissolved into dots, cognized by the virtual data system, and is then reborn into a new creation based on the figures the artist endows or controls. This piece alludes to the characteristics of the information society we live in, such as the relation between reality and virtuality, the ceaseless production and annihilation of consumer products. Also, it connects back to the themes of Manifold, which has the form of information and substances being condensed and then exploding.
Kohei Nawa’s works are varied in ambiguous and irregular forms consisting of multiple cells, by combining biological research and cutting edge technology. This concept shows an innovative interpretation of how the fundamental imagination of mankind could be transformed within the new paradigm of the information society, and reveals the fear, futility, and the problems of the system that lurk beneath the surfaces of the immensity of the information society.
