nca | nichido contemporary art

identity3ART1:Photography / Video
Anna Gaskell, Janaina Tschape, Glen Luckford, Philip Lorca di Corcia
Saul Fletcher, Sophy Rickett, Andres Serrano, Gerogina Starr,
Catherine Sullivan

PART2:Drawing / Sculpture
Marcel Dzama, Nayland Blake , Ellen Gallagher, Darrel Morris
Carter Kustera, Rita Ackermann, Kent Hendricksen, Anna Gaskell
Amie Dicke, Jan Van Oost, Claudia Mazko, Jean-Luc Moerman

Identity III

Part 1: Photography / Video 2nd - 18th February, 2006
Part 2: Drawing / Sculpture 20th February - 4th March, 2006

Mon - Sat 11:00-19:00
Sun & National Holiday by Appointment Only

nca | nichido contemporary art is proud to announce that opening of its third exhibition in a sereis that develops on our gallery theme of "Identity".

The concept of human "consciousness" is believed to have been born about 3,000 years ago.
Until that time, humankind was possessed of a "dual spirit" in which the right hemisphere of the brain heard the words of the gods, and the various civilizations that grew up around the world were the product of this human character. In time, this dual spirit disintegrated as humankind acquired the written word and consciousness and the gods receded in the human consciousness. The human creation that can be considered the source of the first true human "consciousness" was the Ilias and Odyssean literature that led to the discover of the inner voice and personal identity. With this, human beings crossed a line into a realm from which there could be no return.

The processes of thought and interpretation fostered by today's media are based on large volumes of critical information that have given us the means to easily see things we could not see before and accesses things that were inaccessible to us before. Is it even possible, however, for us to enter with pure and simple eyes into the artistic expression or the unique world created by other human beings without being bound by the information and knowledge that we are exposed to? If we approached everything in this way, how do we judge what is real and what is truth?

In the real world, everything we perceive is through the icons (images) of our own consciousness of self. The world we recognize on a daily basis is all projected and perceived on the screen of our self-conscious. And, at the same time, this is the shackle of "consciousness." The subjective experiences we perceive introspectively(the endless cycle of countless internal experiences like thought connections, hopes, fears, feelings of love, knowledge, colors, smells, pains, joys, anguish and desires)give us our sense of the past, present and future, in terms of the things, people or events they place in the space of the soul. Since there is no room for thoughts and fantasies to live in the "objective" world of "fact," they must live in the human being's internal world. The individual finds their "self" with the terms of the moments of internal and external existence. When you connect what is genuine and real to you to your self by means of images and in doing so bring yourself to an abyss you have never experienced before, it is a conscious, and yet, at the same time, and unconscious act. In other words, it is a kind of “non-dualist" experience.

At moments when we experience a strong feeling or are moved deeply in ways that shake us to the core of our very existence, what is going on in our souls is happening so quickly that self-consciousness cannot keep pace with it. Normally, we are able to act consciously, bringing to bear generalizations based on our past experiences. It is only after we have perceived something through our sense and then look back on that experience that it is possible for us to call up the base of consciousness we have gained from our experience, knowledge and information. How often it is that we arrive at correct decisions without the reasons behind them being revealed. And, the fact that we are in such a state of confusion is actually proof that we are living honestly. Lies are born of conscience, insecurity gives birth to fear and fear breeds fear.
The inescapable fears that we each carry inside us are in fact the truths of our inner worlds.

The dreams that he hold within us are also the precious fantasies that are the reverse sides of our fears. And, the identities that people possess transformations of the things in the visible world that express our selves. Artists are people who continue to disclose those things in the form of works (proof of life).

Death signifies the noble spirit in its pure and transparent form. Life is an intricately woven tapestry of emotions born of honesty and dishonesty, lies and deceit and running the full spectrum of delight, anger, sorrow and pleasure. While violence and sex are representative of life, at the same time they can be considered images that are closest to death. Perhaps it is a relationship similar to the close interrelationship between love and hate. "Feeling" is not something that can be done intentionally. We translate the patterns of perception into something else and discover new relationships created from the self-conscious and then recreate the mirror of the soul to one that reflects subjective thoughts that are superior to those of our former self. Perhaps human beings are constantly repeating the processes of breaking away from the past and rebuilding our identity as we walk a tightrope our uniquely human "woes" across the dark abyss between the two poles of life and death. This is because we ourselves are the only ones who can listen to our inner voices and clear away the things that would break or cloud the mirror of the soul.

Hitoshi Takeda
Director
nca | nichido contemporary art