Adventures in Plaster: Balloons and Independence

2024/12/06

The small exhibition room is divided into two by a white partition. Between the partition and the wall, a white sculpture on a white pedestal can be glimpsed. Its upright posture extends directly upward, following the direction of the rising pedestal. Looking closely, it tilts slightly to the left, giving it a certain expression. At its base is a sphere, and rod-like parts stand like a thin, inverted Y-shape. The rod-like parts are rough and uneven, with slightly rounded and thick joints. The slight distortion at the top of the rod immediately brings to mind a human head, and it begins to look like a slender human figure standing with legs apart, carrying a mysterious ball at its feet. Why do humans so easily reference the human body? Here, it sits at the feet like a weight, but the combination of a sphere and a rod always harbors that temptation. However, as you walk around the pedestal, what looked like a person becomes suspicious, appearing as something else, with its shape and expression changing in complex ways. The shadow on the pedestal also plays a role there.

The series made of plaster spheres and rods was given the title "Balloon and Independence." This work is the first in that series. More than twenty were made, four of which are in the same space. All consist of a spherical shape and a rod, and they are always standing. Their ways of standing vary from barely floating to standing tall—four different ways for the four pieces, or rather, over twenty different ways for all twenty-plus pieces created. Motohiro Tomii is known for works composed through simple methods of arranging or stacking a wide variety of ready-made objects. In these works, the ready-made objects are liberated from their daily roles and functions, existing there simply as objects themselves to compose the work. The form is not made, but found. "Balloon and Independence" is not made of ready-made objects. It uses plaster spheres and rods, but even there, what is important are the combinations and the conditions and rules of standing independently. He does not use plaster to model shapes. The work consists of the forms that emerge from combining parts and finding a balance. That is what he considers the work.

I hope you will enjoy the four figures that have emerged in this way. And on the other side of the partition, works using ready-made objects—typical of Tomii in a sense—are waiting. Please enjoy the exhibition ("SHOW-CASE PROJECT Extra-1 Motohiro Tomii: The Shape of Things," October 21, 2024 – January 24, 2025), where two worlds created by the same artist—appearing different yet both representing the "shape of things" emanating from a single artist—are unfolding.

(Yoko Watanabe, Professor, Keio University Art Center (KUAC))