I found this work by Rinko Kawauchi in a book in the library. flicking through, I found a number of images that could also be seen as 'inconveniences' and things that aren't quite right.
うたたね in english translates from japanese to 'utopa' which I can only assume means 'utopia'.
This is a rather ironic title for the work because a utopia is a place where everything is perfect and the series shows a variety of images where things are not as they're supposed to be.
However, I then translated his website to english where うたたね then became 'utatane', meaning to nap or siesta. I think to nap is perhaps more relevant to the work but it's hard to understand why the title is as it is, or even if the translations are correct. I can't find anything about it on the internet and I feel that actually 'Utopia' would fit it better in an ironic way.
For example, this image of a flattened tyre is one of the results of a poll by Nurofen Express from 2009 which asked people what the most annoying things in life were, ranking at 54.
This therefore confirms that this is indeed a well known inconvenience.
The image is in a square format and has a rather dusty desaturated appearance, creating a lifeless feeling, and therefore it feels rather lonely despite the suggestion of human presence with the car.
The dust indicates a hot climate, however this isn't the most important part of the image in my opinion as i'm more focusing on the inconvenience.
The depiction of a flat tire shows something as it's not supposed to be, how it's not intended to be used. It's been compromised by simply existing at the same time as the very object that pierced it and caused it to deflate. It's nothing that can be helped and there's very little control over the matter yet it causes a reaction by us due to the imperfection and how it affects how we use it. This can cause a lot of disruption in our lives because this isn't something we plan for as it doesn't happen on every occasion, and it's more of a rarity.
This second image is again playing with the idea of the imperfect. The rope is all tied together, twisted together in a very orderly fashion and the break in the rope disrupts this. It's not perhaps an inconvenience as much as the images that I am shooting or the image of the flat tire, or at least universally. The lack of context doesn't let us know what the rope is being used for, perhaps a fence or a net. But because we're not sure on the intended purpose of the rope we are not sure on the impact on our lives and so I don't connect to this image as much as the other.
This highlights the importance of context in my own images, I need the audience to know what it is that i'm showing them for them to be able to have the desired reaction. If I were to have my images closer up and not showing the whole object then perhaps they wouldn't be as effective.
The toning on this image is again very different to my own work, however it's rather coherent to the whole image. The desaturated blues and greys all intertwine to create a visually undramatic image. It feels subtle. Because of this it makes the circumstances of the image feel insignificant to the world.
In conclusion, Kawauchi has a very interesting series of work that thoroughly relate to my own images in the sense that they show imperfections and inconveniences and things that may make us uncomfortable to look at. Yet they're things from the everyday life. I believe if these images were taken in the same lighting as my own the images could work in my project, they're that similar.
うたたね in english translates from japanese to 'utopa' which I can only assume means 'utopia'.
This is a rather ironic title for the work because a utopia is a place where everything is perfect and the series shows a variety of images where things are not as they're supposed to be.
However, I then translated his website to english where うたたね then became 'utatane', meaning to nap or siesta. I think to nap is perhaps more relevant to the work but it's hard to understand why the title is as it is, or even if the translations are correct. I can't find anything about it on the internet and I feel that actually 'Utopia' would fit it better in an ironic way.
For example, this image of a flattened tyre is one of the results of a poll by Nurofen Express from 2009 which asked people what the most annoying things in life were, ranking at 54.
This therefore confirms that this is indeed a well known inconvenience.
The image is in a square format and has a rather dusty desaturated appearance, creating a lifeless feeling, and therefore it feels rather lonely despite the suggestion of human presence with the car.
The dust indicates a hot climate, however this isn't the most important part of the image in my opinion as i'm more focusing on the inconvenience.
The depiction of a flat tire shows something as it's not supposed to be, how it's not intended to be used. It's been compromised by simply existing at the same time as the very object that pierced it and caused it to deflate. It's nothing that can be helped and there's very little control over the matter yet it causes a reaction by us due to the imperfection and how it affects how we use it. This can cause a lot of disruption in our lives because this isn't something we plan for as it doesn't happen on every occasion, and it's more of a rarity.
This second image is again playing with the idea of the imperfect. The rope is all tied together, twisted together in a very orderly fashion and the break in the rope disrupts this. It's not perhaps an inconvenience as much as the images that I am shooting or the image of the flat tire, or at least universally. The lack of context doesn't let us know what the rope is being used for, perhaps a fence or a net. But because we're not sure on the intended purpose of the rope we are not sure on the impact on our lives and so I don't connect to this image as much as the other.
This highlights the importance of context in my own images, I need the audience to know what it is that i'm showing them for them to be able to have the desired reaction. If I were to have my images closer up and not showing the whole object then perhaps they wouldn't be as effective.
The toning on this image is again very different to my own work, however it's rather coherent to the whole image. The desaturated blues and greys all intertwine to create a visually undramatic image. It feels subtle. Because of this it makes the circumstances of the image feel insignificant to the world.
In conclusion, Kawauchi has a very interesting series of work that thoroughly relate to my own images in the sense that they show imperfections and inconveniences and things that may make us uncomfortable to look at. Yet they're things from the everyday life. I believe if these images were taken in the same lighting as my own the images could work in my project, they're that similar.
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