An der VOLTA10 Art Fair in Basel (2014) zeigte die Tezukayama Gallery aus Osaka Teezeremonien in einem Teehaus ganz aus Stahl, inklusive aller Utensilien in:
Tomohiro Kato's installation «TETTEI»
The most important thing about my work is that it is steel. We are under illusions that information like data and numbers fly around so fast and the world is covered by them. I feel a notion that material is becoming less important. Painting metal on metal is like mixing up the existence and reality of steel as material and the symbolism and imagination of two dimensional images. I think this twisted feeling awakens us and makes us rethink about the material 'steel', which is responsible for the world's industrial development.
Tomohiro Kato (Born 1981 in Tokyo, Japan)
In his first solo exhibition at Tezukayama gallery, Tomohiro Kato recreated a quintessential part of Japanese traditional culture, the tea ceremony. Since witnessing the terrible Tohoku earthquake and its impact on society, Kato has become more conscious of Japan where he is from. The devastating earthquake actually brought back a new interest in traditional culture for Kato as he went back to study metalwork at the university that he deliberately kept away from after graduating. In this exhibition, Kato will build a steel made tea room at the gallery space including, "tokonoma (alcove), kakejiku (hanging scroll), a tea-set and even flower arrangements, all made of steel. All tea sets and furniture items at a tea-room are traditional crafts and make up the essential elements for a traditional tea-room. During the tea ceremony, the tea room is a condensed universal spiral and a moment there should be perpetuity. The title of the exhibition "Life is steelful" literally comes from Kato's life around steel, but also tries to give the audience an understanding of the exhibition, the tea-room environment in which you are surrounded by steel.
Diaschau der Tee-Präsentation (14. Juni 2014)
Photos: ©2014 Chris Junod
