Every Day Is A Good Day
April 2018, Spiral, Tokyo, Japan
A week-long installation in Spiral Art Center, Tokyo, that evolves daily.
The curatorial concept is derived from the ancient proverb: Nichi nichi kore kōnichi (日々是好日), or Every Day Is A Good Day. First spoken more than a thousand years ago by Zen Master Yun Men, it is a profound meditation on living: that one’s experience of life is based on one’s perception of it. Curating contemporary conceptual artists, Jong Oh and Jinsu Han, to each respond to this concept through their own respective practices, I suggested both artists to work on-site daily on dynamic installations that evolved in accordance to the present situation.
Jinsu Han, a kinetic sculptor, created a large 'pond' sculpture with mechanical feathers that frantically scrub and grind into the milky white paint. As the exhibition progressed, the white turned black, a poetic analogy of life's struggles. Overhead, activated by timed-mechanisms, petals fall at intervals, eventually filling up the large atrium space. We brought the cherry blossoms back during a hot summer season.
Jong Oh, a minimal sculptor, scavenged the Tokyo streets every morning for interesting objects, then integrating these in his ever-evolving installation. Broken umbrellas, shiny costume jewelry, branches, nuts, and more become wonderful abstract gestures. By the end of the exhibition, his immersive installation told a fragmented story of Tokyo through these poetic emblems.
