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BY ELENA SMITH

In print | September 18, 2008

Walking into a gallery or museum can often feel like entering a sacred space. Like reverential objects, works of art are enshrined behind beams of heavenly light and protected from sacrilege/damage by the shield of frames. A clear hierarchy is established — viewers must show respect to art, obeying the demands of conservation.

A gentler, more intimate spirituality permeates “Nakazora: space between earth and sky,” a site-specific installation of photographs on view at the Print Center. Masao Yamamoto, a Japanese artist, avoids the holier-than-thou attitude of much creative expression and encourages a closer bond between viewer and art in two ways.

First, the small size of Masao’s black-and-white landscapes, nudes, and still lifes requests intimate physical relationships. The photos average 2 × 3 to 3 × 5 inches, but one was as small as 3/4¾x 1 inch. At this miniature scale, viewers are forced to walk very close to the images, sometimes hovering just fractions of an inch away to discern discrete details.

Secondly, Masao eliminates the glass frame as a barrier, electing to paste his images directly onto the gallery wall. Leaving his works in this unguarded state, the artist implies his trust in his audience. He welcomes and encourages the viewer’s approach.

Without frames, artwork is subject to damage from elements in the air and oil marks of gesturing fingers. While some artists seek to immortalize their creations through modern conservation techniques, the process of aging and wear is central to Masao’s creative process.

Masao dyes black-and-white photographs with tea, yellowing images for an antiquated feel. He subjects images to tears and folds, usually relegated to the perimeter. He carries photos in his pockets to create “natural” demarcations of wear. In previous exhibitions, Masao even allowed viewers to directly handle his photographs, accepting the physical consequences of this decision.
Untitled #955 is typical of Masao’s technique. The 4 × 4 inch gelatin silver print, originally printed in black-and-white, is yellowed from the stains of tea leaves. A discrete tear begins at the bottom of the photograph and continues up the left arm. Slightly out of focus, the blurred photo speaks of distant memory.

Photographs may be inanimate objects, but Masao’s aging techniques remind us that art has a life of its own. Though Untitled #955 may not breathe like its subjects, a human and a bird, it endures trials and ages just like organic beings.

The distressed condition bears the index of Masao. After the moment of conception (the second when Masao snaps the image), the artist exercises his control. Masao develops the negatives and expedites the aging process. He also bestows new life to his photographs through new juxtapositions, arranging the photos differently in each gallery space.

“Nakazora” is an ongoing series that began eight to nine years ago. It contains about six thousand images, two-thirds of which are spread out all over the world in art institutions and collectors’ homes. About 50 images are displayed at the Print Center.

Masao prepares for each showing of “Nakazora” in a unique way. Upon learning the size of a gallery space, he creates a mock-up of the room with a thin Japanese paper. He spontaneously selects photos and composes the arrangement on the paper, often noticing connections between individual works after the process is completed.

After finishing this exercise, Masao cuts holes where each image rests. He rolls up his papers, takes them to the gallery, and lays the sheets down on the gallery walls. Using his template as a guide, he recreates his studio installation exactly as envisioned previously.

At the Print Center, Masao divides his photos into seven groupings. Some are small, containing only two or three pictures, while others include as many as twenty.

His compositions defy dominant trends in gallery installation. His photos do not parade across the wall at eye level. Instead, Masao takes advantage of the entire wall space, placing images from the ceiling all the way down to the floor. The exhibition demands physical interaction from the viewer, requiring that one bend down or stand on tippy-toes.

Through Masao’s installation method, the white-washed walls become a part of the exhibition rather than a backdrop. Photographs communicate with one another across the wall space. An elegant image of a cascading waterfall, for example, sits directly two feet above a photo of a fire with rising smoke. The downward-moving water can be imagined to meet the mounting smoke halfway, intersecting on the white wall. The elements collide; the water will extinguish the fire.

“Nakazora” promises not to disappoint. Masao creates a new experience for the seasoned gallery visitor through his unique installation method. During the opening reception, Masao noted that he hopes each visitor will walk away with a different interpretation of the exhibition.

Through the intriguing composition of his beautiful photographs, Masao has accomplished his goal.
“Nakazora: space between earth and sky” will be on display through Nov. 26. at the Print Center, 1614 Latimer St., Philadelphia.

Elena is a senior. You can reach her at esmith3@swarthmore.edu.

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