Born in Tokyo, Japan, in 1948, he grew up and graduated from university there, then went abroad and studied photography at Art Center College of Design, Los Angeles. In 1974, he moved to New York City. Now his time is divided between Tokyo and NYC.
His photographs and artwork are seen on the island of Naoshima. The above picture is the subterranean part of Go-oh Jinja, created with contemporary significance, in the course of the community revamping project supervised by Benesse called, Art House Project, reviving old abandoned houses or neighborhood through the vitality of art.
The subterranean passageway, he says, was formed naturally rather. Heavy machinery was used but in the end manual labor had to be employed, then the result manifested itself. He entitled his artwork, “Appropriate Proportion.” Yes, quite appropriate name. The dimensions of the jinja or Shinto shrine he revived seem to be perfect and flawless to invite divinity. To achieve this, he examined one particularly ancient-styled shrine building of Ise Grand Shrine. The divine dwelling has to be built in appropriate proportion. The divinity will visit, stay, and leave. Somewhere beyond the waves of the inland sea, celestial beings will come, travel through the underground passageway and go up the glass stairs to find the shrine built in appropriate proportions. They will say “Good” and perform their duties.
Sugimoto used premium optical glass to make the stairs. As a photographer, the optical glass must be something he’s been familiar with. Also the glass was believed to be possessed by spirit in ancient Japan.
His “Time Exposed” series, ancient seawater and horizon, is comfortable to gaze at, and at the same time, invokes stimulation by finding them at the most unusual locations. Three of his “Time Exposed” photographs are separately displayed on rugged rock faces around Benesse House (a contemporary museum and accommodations on the same premises). They are at a considerable distance from you and you can’t identify what they are; they look like a funny square eye, which appeared from nowhere and remains on the cliff. Later, when you see a series of his photos displayed at a terrace of Benesse House, again outside, you’ll know what you’ve seen near the water. But that’s only if something clicks in you and connects you and the artist.
With his photo displayed at an otherwise ordinary location, the landscape or seascape looks different and conspicuous, capturing the lapse of time. His photos are easy to spot in Naoshima’s natural settings. The image is so vivid and striking that you might begin to think of its significance to you.
Originally written on January 2, 2009 on the former blog URL.
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