Cool Japan Speeding the Japanese Contemporary Art
Text by Yumi Yamaguchi
-Shigeru Moroizumi-
Shigeru Moroizumi creates delicate and beautiful installation by using thermometers. Thermometer is usually a tool to measure temperature, however, some part of it is hand-made by a craftsman, so the spacing between each scale is not perfectly the same. Exposing the margin of error, it gives us an opportunity to take another look at what we believe in our lives. His work is beautiful, keen and a little bit scary as to let us see something that is not visible.
One aspect of magnetism of art is to present the way to exhibit what your eyes cannot see. A thermometer is a handy scientific tool to make you actually see something not visible such as air temperature. Please be noted that there are no scales to measure on all the thermometers used for his works. It would evoke a natural question about the meaning of quantifying things and events and a simple question about having a shared perception gained by naming it air temperature as well. It reminds you that there could be a point to have a doubt about what looks absolutely correct on the surface. Good art throws various questions at you.
When the thermometers are displayed in line to the liquid level, they do not get aligned. When installed in line to the length of the thermometers, the red liquid does not form a horizontal line. After taking a hard and long look at Moroizumi’s works, a thermometer is getting look like a human being. My imagination becomes wilder as if every thermometer shows off its own characteristics. Some part of the wall in the room is covered by the thermometers, and the red line formed by the liquid seems to look like the tip of a drawing brush. It can be said that Moroizumi is making a drawing of thermometers. His work has mysterious attraction and fearfulness, and is romantic enough to open the door to that story.
His latest work arranges blue and yellow color for the thermometers in addition to red which has been the original color since the beginning of this series, and more variations could be expected in the future. Fluttering Heart, which is another series work of thermometers made in the shape of a heart that he has worked on for some years, and other small works are just simply beautiful and adorable. If Moroizumi would meet different materials and tools with new functions and natures, he would create more mysterious and beautiful works.
ⒸSHIGERU MOROIZUMI