Time Memory / Fault 11

Shinro Ohtake is one of Japan’s leading and most innovative contemporary artists. His practice extends from the creation of visual arts projects and artist books to sound and architectural projects. Ohtake’s vast scrapbook collection—first begun in 1977—forms the backbone of his multifaceted practice, which ranges from painting, to assemblage, collage, drawing, monumental sculpture, architectural environments, and experimental noise music. Through his noise band JUKE/19 (1978–82), Ohtake has also influenced the direction of experimental music in Japan. In Time Memory / Fault 11, Ohtake builds on his collage practice to create sculptural, volumetric forms that jut from the canvas support. As the title suggests, the varying layers of paper scraps create fissures and fault lines in layers of memory like shifting tectonic plates, while the drawn-in lines of ballpoint pen reference the uneven flow of time. Ohtake’s crusty agglomeration of materials is riddled with tears, punctures, and other flaws that mimic the messy, imperfect nature of memory in a highly visceral manner.