Image from exhibition by Japanese born artist Hiraki Sawa

Me outside 'firstsite'

Me outside 'Jacks' in Colchester.

April 1st - went to Colchester with G, A, B&T.
First we went to see Certain Places an exhibition by Japanese born artist Hiraki Sawa.

The picture at the top is from one of his video installations. It was awesome and radical man!

Firstsite in Colchester was the venue.

Here is their description.

Hiraki Sawa, Eight Minutes

25 March – 6 May 2006
Hiraki Sawa
Certain Places

“It’s a delight”

Alan Bennett on Hiraki Sawa, Untold Stories, 2005.

The daring fantasy and austere beauty of Hiraki Sawa comes to firstsite : contemporary art Colchester this spring.

This is rising star Sawa’s first solo show in the UK, and is accompanied by his first solo publication.

Japanese born, London based Sawa graduated from the Slade school of Fine Art in 2002 and over past three years has produced a substantial body of film and sculptural works.

The collection to be presented at firstsite, the largest united group of his work to date, now offers an opportunity to critically study the impact of this period of intense and uninterrupted art production.

Currently represented by galleries in New York and Japan the artist has been commissioned by firstsite to create a new work for his approaching six-week exhibition.

Sawa burst quietly on to the arts scene in 2002 at East International and New Contemporaries with the now widely acclaimed video Dwelling.

In this remarkable production, his empty flat is quite magically transformed into a busy international airport for a fleet of miniature airplanes.

Climbing between rooms, cruising at a height of several inches above the kitchen sink and stacking around the light fitting, the Lilliputian jets multiply until they are methodically weaving a web of air traffic around the apartment.

Dwelling is one of 11 video pieces to be showcased in the firstsite exhibition and publication: others include Elsewhere, 2003, Migration, 2003; Trail, 2005; and Eight Minutes, 2005.

All of these films introduce the frequently surreal and habitually serene landscapes of domestic spaces.

Sawa's visual poetry includes teapots that sprout legs, swimming goats, walking camel shadows, miniature rocking horses, big wheels and other wonderful creatures and people.

Among his acolytes, Sawa can count on writer Alan Bennett who wrote high praise for the artist’s 2003 Kettle’s Yard exhibition in his 2005 memoirs, Untold Stories.