K.C.C. (Y-5)
- Tatsuo Miyajima, Japanese, 1957 -
- Born: Tokyo, Japan
- Work Locations: Tokyo, Japan
Digital tickers and LED lights are the building blocks of Tatsuo Miyajima’s sculpture and installation works. Miyajima operates within specific material parameters: the LED lights he uses come in a limited range of color, and, count up or down between numbers 1 and 9 without ever reaching 0. Within this limited range, however, he finds unlimited possibilities; in the artist’s hands the sequencing expresses individuality. He has presented counters in a multitude of iterations, using both geometric and organic compositions. While critics and curators see the influence of Serial Art in Miyajima’s practice, the artist explains that Buddhism is the principal influence. For the artist, the ticking numbers are tied to inevitability, universality, and mortality. Miyajima states: “I am making installations which experiment with different systems of time,” adding that, “There is no absolute length of time, only a personal rhythm.”
"K.C.C. (Y-5)" is a square of digital hardware with sixteen digital numbers, which change at random. Miyajima believes that art must stay fluid and adapt to change over time, stating, “Art should be a reflection of the reality in one sense or the other, and hence, should be continuously changing.” "K.C.C. (Y-5)" produces countless combinations of numbers; no single snapshot taken of the work could accurately represent it in its entirety. The work represents the intangibility of time and invites the viewer to experience only a fragmented duration, lest the viewer stare at the piece for hours on end. In this, the artist remarks on the concept of lost potential, and its irrelevance to the course of one’s life.
Tatsuo Miyajima was born in 1957, and lives and works in Ibaraki, Japan. He finished undergraduate and postgraduate studies at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in 1986 after which he began experimenting with performance art before moving on to light-based installations.
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