Noriko Takuma
“ A blink ”
2007Co-Grand Prize
ARTIST STATEMENT
A blink
The scene we once took in is already gone from memory, faded into a hushed frame The many scenes that blinked our way are no more All that passes underscores the passage of time
Does a single line continue on forever? The blinking scene has not changed since that time
Not a trip, nor a dream; it blinks all the same
Occasionally, the eyes may stay shut But still the scene suddenly flashes again underneath the eyelids And in front of the passing scene, a blink
Entries form: 3D book (cornice-style folding book, 194 mm x 244 mm variations)
Monochrome, 55 prints (excluding cover), baryta paper
Selecting judge: Daido Moriyama
This work made me strangely anxious. The photographs are like after-images that you catch from the corner of your eye, and for some reason this affected me deeply.
The situations in each photograph are not connected in any particular way, yet they make you feel as though you’ve been staring at the outside world from the window of the same vehicle for a long time. The moments accumulate, and connect as after-images. You also get a strong sense of the intrinsic power that photographs possess.
The format of this book also has a big effect. It is interesting that small prints are arranged in rows in identical fashion, so that only the world being depicted changes. If the prints had been larger, it might not have had the same effect. It seems subdued and subtle, but it actually isn’t. It somehow awakens memories in the person looking at it, and this was the overwhelming impression it left on me.
PROFILE
Noriko Takuma
Noriko Takuma was born in Osaka in 1985 and graduated from graduate school at the Kyoto University of the Arts. She was a co-winner of the Grand Prize at the 2007 New Cosmos of Photography and won the La Primavera Award in 2011. Some of her major solo and group exhibitions include: 2007 New Cosmos of Photography Exhibition (Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo, touring other museums in 2008 and 2009); The Exposed #3.5, #4, and #5 (Contemporary Art Space Osaka (CASO), Osaka); Hundred Stories about Love (21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa); Seoul Photo (COEX, South Korea); Cheap Chic (Florist Gallery N, Aichi); Mitamama-Ha (Bloom Gallery, Osaka); Higashikawa Artist-in-Residence Exhibition (Higashikawa Red Brick Gallery, Hokkaido); and Tsushima Art Fantasia (Tsushima, Fukuoka).
2007Co-Grand Prize