Tripartite Unity of "the now is"
by Yasushi Kurabayashi
Humans don't die.
This is the first statement in artist
Hiroshi Kariya's text
entitled "The now is" or "Present" in his solo exhibition at
Mizuma Art Gallery in 1994. I am
thoroughly attracted to his
conclusions. The statement reflects the
artist's life and the
condensed experiences of his thought and
prayer in which
his works have been woven.
"415 Palestinians" 1993, Spark Gallery II, Tokyo
Today one is not supposed to interpret an
artist's work
with a knowledge of his or her personal
life. Times have
changed since we had "tragic
painter" Van Gogh and "cursed
painter" Gauguin. The creators'
attitude of tapping into their
private lives for sources of their works,
such as the "I story"
that was popular in Japan around Taisho
and early Showa
periods (1910s--1930s), is now rejected.
The sentimental
attitude of reading stories and dramas
into one's work
certainly has been overcome. At the same
time, the more
highly philosophical idea of recognizing
the inseparability between
an artist's life and his/her creative
activities is
neglected. While it is true that a work of
art exists independently
at the moment of completion, the creation
itself
is clearly generated from the artist's
creative conduct which
is impacted by his/her daily life and
thought, bodily makeup
and general existence in this world.
Ignoring this inseparability
and only looking at the works causes a big
obstacle in interpreting
the artworks of certain kinds of artists.
Hiroshi Kariya would be one of such
artists. Shocked by
the images of illustrated hell shown to him by his grandfather
when he was small, Kariya has been
intrigued by a
poisonous fear of the idea of death. I
won't go into the
details of how this fear penetrated every
waking moment of
his later life, but his experiences must
have been triggered by
a raw and basic questioning of what kind
of trivial meaning
this life of a human being would have in
this world. I'm not
sure whether the statement of "Humans
don't die" is a
conclusion or a wish that was reached by
an awakening after
countless and continuous prayers. The only
thing I can say is
that Kariya's whole history and whole
existence are staked
on this thought. His creative activities
and all of his works
are certainly based on this statement and
are implemented
from there.
Bosnia 1993
18 drawings
video
Spark
Gallery II, Tokyo
Assembridge of discarded object collected from artist's related friends and relatives: Mitsuo Shigemura,
Shigeo Anzai, Keiji Uematsu, Wolf Karren, Bernd Jansen, Isolde Wafrin, Wolfgang Lui, Hilmar Boyle,
Raimund Van Weil, Lioba Lenhart, Noboru Takayama, Sueo Mitsuma (Gallery owner),
A. Sakaguchi (Gallery coresponded), and among with total of 106 people's belongings.
In any case, does the statement
"Humans don't die" hold
good in this world? Human lives have been
so easily taken
throughout the twentieth century and that
is still so. It is not
enough to mention Auschwitz and Hiroshima.
The issues that
Kariya refers to in his works, such as the
crimes against
humanity in Bosnia, Palestine, Somalia,
Cambodia, Angola, El
Salvador, nuclear issues and AIDS,
nations, ethnic groups,
race, gender---violence and homicide are
repeated anywhere,
anytime, and people die like torn and
discarded pieces of
paper.
If a proposition that "Humans don't
die" holds true, this
world phenomenon must be regarded as a
pseudo phenomenon.
However, this is neither an escapist
attitude nor a
hermit idea. Reality exists as facts
although it might be a
pseudo phenomenon. It exists only at
present and repeats
its existence. What seem to be humans'
life and death are
pseudo phenomena. Humans don't die---this
is a world view
relevant in Kariya's work.
.......................................................................................
'the now is' sutra"
A string of words that are repeated
endlessly in many of
Kariya's works---"the now is"---is called " 'the now is' sutra"
by the artist, and it expresses his world
view very well.
According to Kariya,
"the" is a directing (person), demonstrative pronoun;
"now" is an object of concept (symbol), present
(momentariness), changing movement of this world
phenomena---present as eternity; and
"is" is what is present, the one and only presence, that
the world phenomena continue to exist at
the same
time (as another, that the another does).
"The" points to the world phenomena of
"now," and that the world phenomena exist means "is."
"Is" is how the world phenomena appear as "now,"
directed by
"the." At the same time,
"now" is a concept which expresses the appearance, which
is "is."
.......................................................................................
three elements
of "the," "now," and "is" include each other while existing
independently, and they are part of each other while each is
the whole.
It is a little complex and difficult to
grasp, but let me
explain in my own words. "Now" is a concept---a basic
concept---that the whole universe, including
us humans and
every phenomenon in nature, exists as
pseudo phenomenon
in this world. That this basic concept
works as an actual
phenomenon and exists is "is." What directs and reveals this
basic concept of "now" is "the." Thus Kariya's work exists
first of all as a demonstrative pronoun "the." At the same
time, this demonstrative function works as "is, " both in a
sense of existing as a phenomenon and as a
creative
expression. Such a demonstrative conduct
and function of
existence are all included in the concept of "now" in the
sense of forming "the present."
In this way, three elements
of "the," "now," and "is" include each other while existing
independently, and they are part of each
other while each is
the whole.
They consist of the tripartite unity---direction,
concept and existence.
Any tiny, trifle existence in
this world---even the dust in the air or a dewdrop on a leaf---
is part of the universe, and at the same time, includes the
whole universe.
In the esoteric Shingon sect of Buddhism, its object of
worship, "Dainichi Nyorai," exists as a phenomenon of "a
matter, an affair, a circumstance, an
event" while it is also
directed as a "name." This idea
is embedded in the icon in
the "Kongoh" World Mandala and
"Taizo" World Mandala
which respectively place "Dainichi
Nyorai" in the center.
The former portrays the static order of
the universe, while
the latter its dynamic aspect. Kariya
always says his work is
a sutra. It is so because the letters
(words) he writes are
not simply symbols, they are linked with
ideas, and they
continue endlessly. In a viewpoint of
"the now is" sutra,
which forms the core of Kariya's
philosophy in his work, it
would be possible to view all of his works
as a mandala.
When viewing it as a mandala, the idea
that each is a part
and the whole (which I have explained in
terms of the
relationshipof the three words) can be
well understood in the
philosophy of Kariya's work, as applicable
to every phenomenon
in the universe. While humans are a part
of the universe,
we are the universe itself. Any tiny,
trifle existence in
this world---even the dust in the air or a
dewdrop on a leaf---
is part of the universe, and at the same
time, includes the
whole universe. Thus, Kariya's phrase
introduced at the
beginning of this text: "Humans don't
die" is followed by the
sentence: "Humans are the universe."
We still have another issue that we have
to think about
when facing Kariya's work. That is, why
his philosophy
comes to exist as an artwork. Sometimes
Kariya calls his
work or his whole solo exhibition
"Engraved Time." A person
is always living in the flow of
"present" while being aware of
its continuity. "Being aware"
means that each moment is an
awakening while this sense of awakening
becomes unaware
when it attains the normal state. Kariya
compares awakening
to a hit on the shoulder while meditating
at a Zen temple, or
wakening up in the morning, or the ringing
of a telephone.
That Kariya creates his work and writes
sutra is also an
awakening and a succession of
awakenings---
it is the engraving of
time.
The reason why Kariya's work has
overwhelming power for
the viewer is because the viewer is
awakened and made
conscious of his/her place in the
universe. Then the viewer
recognizes that this moment of awakening
and the awareness
of it are generated by the result of the
artist's
tremendous labor over a long period of
time. All of Kariya's
works are the product of stunning
continuation. When one
looks at his work, she/he is first
overwhelmed by what appears,
and is further overwhelmed by the
tremendous amount of work
that has been expended.
Kariya's work is realistic
in the true meaning of the word.
While any work of art is required to have
some kind of
visual strength, where does the power of
Kariya's work come
from? His work is not an indirect and
abstract illustration of
an artist's concept. The materials he
uses---blackboards,
stones, discarded objects, scrap of
newspaper articles,
words written with a chalk, flowers---are
primary in his
thought and are direct. In this sense,
Kariya's work is realistic
in the true meaning of the word. Many
visitors to his exhibitions
say that they are awe struck. So am I. I
am still
AERA weekly magazine / Asahi Shinbun / Spark Gallery II, Tokyo, 1993
Radiation, 1993 Discarded object contained daily life trashes with
including
Preliminary school's histosy book, Time magazine, Asahi News paper,
and Heart sutra, the teach of life.
fact that humans' lives and matter circulate.
reminded of the shock that I experienced
at his solo exhibition
entitled "In Memory of 1992, "
in which a number of
discarded objects, wrapped up with white
cloths, are put in
rows, like bodies. These
"bodies" are not an illustration of
the artist's view on humans, but are a
literal indication of a
fact that humans' lives and matter
circulate. No doubt this
direct and shocking method generates power
and overwhelms
people.
There is one last element that moves
people in Kariya's
work. After all, his work is positive. At
his exhibit at Art
Tower Mito, there was a telescope placed
in the last room,
and visitors would peek and see
"future" written on the
photo: Toshio Kaneko, Nikkei Art Journali
other end. It is nevertheless meaningful to
ironically display
atrocities and contradictions happening in
this world. However,
I believe that a great work of art has
something powerful
and positive at its base regardless of how
depressingly
it is expressed. In order to endure doing
ongoing ironical
work, an artist must stay essentially
positive. But, since
there are so many simple, ironical works
in today's contemporary
art, Kariya's work is burdened with the
worst atrocities
and discrepancies that the twentieth
century (some
would argue, the most pathetic century
ever), has generated.
At the same time, his work offers us
courage, mercy
and love to directly look at and be aware
of this misery. The
work was nurtured from one's personal
experiences, but it
secretly breaks through its shell and
penetrates our
existence---because
"humans don't die" means
"humans are the universe."
(Translation by Miki Nishizawa)
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Installation 1993
essay by Seiichi Watanabe
100 Bouquets, 100 Candle light, 100
Writings
Installation and Memorial service were given simulated to real life's events,
but this time for the discarded object..
Installation view at Art Tower Mito roof yard
Upon exiting the ATM Workshop, return to
Room #6 of the
Contemporary Art Gallery, where you must
pass under the
"Bandage Gate." This leads you
to the works of Hiroshi Kariya,
a production artist residing in New York
since 1977.
The current exhibition shows his
"Installation 1993," intended
as a record of world events in 1993. For
the work, Kariya has
used material from the reports of everyday
news, including
newspapers and magazines. He has labeled
such a format as
"reportage pictures" and
"reportage sculpture." These works
treat the lives of human beings as their
main theme, as well
as the record of the traces those leave.
