“Function Composition”
“Semantic Segmentation”
Translation Zone
Postproduction, 2018
Courtesy of the artist
Featured in this exhibition are the photo series "Function Composition" and "Semantic Segmentation," as well as a video work titled "Translation Zone."
In the work in the center of the "Function Composition" series, the boundaries between the printed photographs of objects and the objects themselves that are arranged in the same picture are blurred, making it difficult for the viewer to discern between actual objects and photographs thereof. This was realized with the help of computer image processing technology.
The series "Semantic Segmentation" showcases results of a computer's object recognition operations, indicating through different colors and percentage values the degree of certainty in the computer's recognition of the respective objects on the screen. Each work in this series consists of a pair of two photographs the viewer can compare and thereby understand how changes of viewpoints or cut out sections affect the computer's recognition.
The video deals with the difficulties of translating expressions from one language into another, or preparing dishes of foreign countries from ingredients obtained in Japan, while also focusing on the creative ideas that tasks like these inspire. The work highlights such notions of "richness" that result from mistranslation and the state of mutual confusion whenever different cultures and languages are not accurately translated.
Revolving around the question how the way we perceive or think about things is defined by computers and other digital media, and by social backgrounds such as languages and cultures, the works on display highlight the vagueness of such computer-based operations as processing or recognition, along with the amalgamation of cultures and languages. At the same time, they suggest that our views and perceptions are always subject to possible changes.
NAGATA Kosuke
- Born 1990 in Aichi, Japan
- Based in Tokyo, Japan
Nagata Kosuke lived in Aichi up to his high school years, then went on to study architecture at Tokyo University of the Arts. Having received his masters from the same school, he engaged in research on digital design, creating work all the while. He is currently studying photography theory and working on artistic production as a Ph.D. candidate in the Graduate School of Film and New Media at the same university. While the popularization of digital photography and smart devices has made it simple to communicate through creating and processing images, such images are conditioned by a number of apparatuses: the cameras that take the photos, the software that processes them, the devices that display them. Overusing said software and devices, Nagata foregrounds these very functions, creating works that make us rethink the conditions under which our digitally-mediated experiences play out.
Selected Works & Awards
| 2018 | Open Space 2018: in transition, NTT InterCommunication Center [ICC], Tokyo, Japan |
| 2018 | Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions 2018, Mapping the Invisible, Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan |
| 2017 | Malformed Objects – Bricolage for myriads of other bodies, YAMAMOTO GENDAI, Tokyo, Japan |
| 2016 | Therapist (solo), Tokyo Wonder Site Hongo, Tokyo, Japan |
Map
Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art (10F)
Address
1-13-2 Higashisakura,Higashi-ku, Nagoya
461-8525 JAPAN
Open
(Fri -20:00)
Admission until
30 minutes
before closing
Closed
Barrier free
Access
・5 minutes on foot from Sakae-Machi Station on the Meitetsu Seto Line.