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Image: Hiraki Sawa 'Going places sitting down' 2005
 
Hiraki Sawa
Japanese 1977, worked in England 1996
still from Going places sitting down 2005
three channel colour digital video projection, transferred to DVD, sound 8 min 31 sec, edition of 6 Commissioned by the Hayward/Bloomberg Artists' Commission © Courtesy of the artist and James Cohan Gallery, New York

 

Image: Hiraki Sawa 'Dwelling' 2002

Hiraki Sawa

Japanese 1977, worked in England 1996
still from Dwelling 2002 single channel black and white digital video projection, transferred to DVD, sound 9 min 20 sec, edition of 8

Six good reasons to stay at home
Hiraki Sawa video works

7 July 2006 to 3 December 2006
New Media Gallery, Level 3
Admission free

Hiraki Sawa’s home is both the backdrop and inspiration for most of the works in Six good reasons to stay at home.  In the videos of the artist’s modest apartment in this exhibition, strange and magical activities take place when there is no one at home to witness them.  Rooms are suddenly transformed by the converging flight paths of swarms of model airplanes and tiny naked figures and animals from the images of 19th century photographer Eadweard Muybridge also populate the space, aimlessly traversing the surfaces throughout the apartment in a meditative yet slightly disturbing way.  In the whimsical world of Sawa’s videos domestic space becomes a place of wonder, but our voyeuristic inclusion within this world frequently edges towards the surreal.

Born in 1977 in Ishikawa, Hiraki Sawa lives and works in London. Six good reasons to stay at home is Hiraki Sawa’s first solo exhibition in Australia.

 

The exhibition room brochure is available for purchase, online or in person, at NGV Shop.

 

 
 

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