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Lot Essay
Scientists speculate that over 99% of the animal species that have ever lived on this earth had become extinct. Currently, more than 20% of the mammals are on the brink of extinction. What we know today about pre-historic creatures such as the woolly mammoth, the ground sloth, or the sabre-toothed tiger are reconstructed and reimagined by scientists through fossil records. taxidermy are performed in order to preserve the appearances of animals that have died. These specimens become exhibits in natural museums where people can keenly examine and perform scientific researches on them. John Hancock, considered by many to be the father of taxidermy, showed a series of bird specimens at the Great Exhibition at the Crystal Palace in London in 1851. The exhibition proved to be tremendously influential - it became fashionable amongst the middle class to decorate their living rooms with taxidermy, and some made their beloved pets who have recently passed away into taxidermy as well. Quite a few artists in contemporary art, for instance, Robert Rauschenberg (Fig. 1), Maurizio Cattelan, Cai Guo-qiang, have utilised taxidermy in their works. And the iconic figure representing Japan in this category is Kohei Nawa.
Kohei Nawa’s sculptures had made him one of the most acclaimed young artists in Japan, and his most celebrated sculpture series was inspired by taxidermy. He finds the suitable subject matter on the Internet, many of which are animal taxidermy. After purchasing them online he later modifies them. He calls the process of using transparent spheres to form sculptures ‘PixCell’- a portmanteau of the English words Pixel and Cell. A pixel is the smallest unit that makes up a digital image; similarly, a cell is the basic building block of every organism. The transparent spheres unify taxidermy, toys, cigarette box (Lot 207) and musical instruments-objects of different compositions, into a homogenous family. PixCell becomes the cell of these sculptures. Similar to how pixels make up all the images in the digital world, Nawa is able to skilfully reconcile the dichotomy between the virtual world and the real world, by representing the result in a visually comprehendible way.
Charles Darwin published the controversial book On the Origin of Species in 1859. One assertion that is the most difficult to accept is humans and other organisms all share a common ancestor. Through extensive genetic sequencing and comparisons, scientists were able to draw a phylogenetic tree in 1999 that demonstrates that the present day human, bonobos, and chimpanzees all have the great ape as a common ancestor. Based on this theory, Nawa’s PixCell can be developed into a world view that everything in the universe is equal. Anything that has been processed by his PixCell treatment will become a new species with common genes. Kohei Nawa not only directs the audience to reflect on how the self relates to everything in the universe, he also inspires us to imagine the infinite ways that the future can evolve.
Deer is a reoccurring subject matter in Kohei Nawa’s PixCell series. The Japanese’s love for deer is most likely based on the Shinto belief that they are the messengers to the Gods (Fig. 2). PixCell-Deer #9 (Lot 57) is a deer head that is covered with transparent spheres. Formally, it is comparable to Damien Hirst’s For the Love of God, in which a skull is covered with a single type of sparkling gem – diamond. Upon close inspection, the fur of the taxidermy is clearly visible on PixCell-Deer #9. However, viewers can only momentarily receive this visual information - they are constantly being disrupted as they move their gaze from one sphere to another. These myriad images combine to form the complete imagination of the deer head. When viewed from a distance, the sculpture looks like a pixelated blur on the computer screen. Yet, the transparent spheres assure us that they do in fact exist in the objective reality. The viewer’s understanding of the object is dependent on whether he or she perceives it as a deer or an assembly of transparent spheres first. Kohei Nawa’s artist treatment piques the viewers’ curiosity. To be closer to reality, one must return to relying on their basic visual perceptions in order to full comprehend the work.
Similar to Christo and Jeanne-Claude wrapping the Reichstag in fabric (Fig. 3), this treatment changes the surface characteristics of the object. It creates for viewers another layer of an abstract aesthetic that is distinct from reality. Such lyricism is also reminiscent of Meret Opphenheim’s surrealistic fur-covered tea set. (Fig. 4) Nawa raises the crucial question of “What is real?” - Is it the object? Is it the transparent spheres? Or is it the pixels that constitute the digital whole? The twenty-first century is the age of the virtual. Technology ceaselessly changes our perception of reality. In Kohei Nawa’s PixCell, viewers are able to swim freely between the real and the virtual; and through this process, we are able to momentarily feel the universe becoming one.
Kohei Nawa’s sculptures had made him one of the most acclaimed young artists in Japan, and his most celebrated sculpture series was inspired by taxidermy. He finds the suitable subject matter on the Internet, many of which are animal taxidermy. After purchasing them online he later modifies them. He calls the process of using transparent spheres to form sculptures ‘PixCell’- a portmanteau of the English words Pixel and Cell. A pixel is the smallest unit that makes up a digital image; similarly, a cell is the basic building block of every organism. The transparent spheres unify taxidermy, toys, cigarette box (Lot 207) and musical instruments-objects of different compositions, into a homogenous family. PixCell becomes the cell of these sculptures. Similar to how pixels make up all the images in the digital world, Nawa is able to skilfully reconcile the dichotomy between the virtual world and the real world, by representing the result in a visually comprehendible way.
Charles Darwin published the controversial book On the Origin of Species in 1859. One assertion that is the most difficult to accept is humans and other organisms all share a common ancestor. Through extensive genetic sequencing and comparisons, scientists were able to draw a phylogenetic tree in 1999 that demonstrates that the present day human, bonobos, and chimpanzees all have the great ape as a common ancestor. Based on this theory, Nawa’s PixCell can be developed into a world view that everything in the universe is equal. Anything that has been processed by his PixCell treatment will become a new species with common genes. Kohei Nawa not only directs the audience to reflect on how the self relates to everything in the universe, he also inspires us to imagine the infinite ways that the future can evolve.
Deer is a reoccurring subject matter in Kohei Nawa’s PixCell series. The Japanese’s love for deer is most likely based on the Shinto belief that they are the messengers to the Gods (Fig. 2). PixCell-Deer #9 (Lot 57) is a deer head that is covered with transparent spheres. Formally, it is comparable to Damien Hirst’s For the Love of God, in which a skull is covered with a single type of sparkling gem – diamond. Upon close inspection, the fur of the taxidermy is clearly visible on PixCell-Deer #9. However, viewers can only momentarily receive this visual information - they are constantly being disrupted as they move their gaze from one sphere to another. These myriad images combine to form the complete imagination of the deer head. When viewed from a distance, the sculpture looks like a pixelated blur on the computer screen. Yet, the transparent spheres assure us that they do in fact exist in the objective reality. The viewer’s understanding of the object is dependent on whether he or she perceives it as a deer or an assembly of transparent spheres first. Kohei Nawa’s artist treatment piques the viewers’ curiosity. To be closer to reality, one must return to relying on their basic visual perceptions in order to full comprehend the work.
Similar to Christo and Jeanne-Claude wrapping the Reichstag in fabric (Fig. 3), this treatment changes the surface characteristics of the object. It creates for viewers another layer of an abstract aesthetic that is distinct from reality. Such lyricism is also reminiscent of Meret Opphenheim’s surrealistic fur-covered tea set. (Fig. 4) Nawa raises the crucial question of “What is real?” - Is it the object? Is it the transparent spheres? Or is it the pixels that constitute the digital whole? The twenty-first century is the age of the virtual. Technology ceaselessly changes our perception of reality. In Kohei Nawa’s PixCell, viewers are able to swim freely between the real and the virtual; and through this process, we are able to momentarily feel the universe becoming one.