Tetsuro Kano’s previous works have focused on residency-based projects where he produced installations combining natural objects and readymade items and products, and site-specific pieces that incorporate drawings and photography. Other installation works have involved scattering the seeds of various plants within the exhibition space and watching over them as they grew, and designed spaces that contained birds and plants. Last year, Kano’s solo showcase made top billing at the Bloomberg Pavilion Project, an exhibition held at a custom-made pavilion on the grounds of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, winning him much acclaim. For this project, Kano created an installation using nets, hoses and bird traps that he called “Naturplan”. Installed in the exhibition hall of a museum, Naturplan proposed a novel way of perceiving space. The various readymade items carried a symbolic meaning for human observers. Birds, however, recognized Kano’s installation as a living environment. By deviating from the original significance and function of his chosen materials and the spaces in which they are displayed, and then recombining them in different configurations, Kano creates landscapes on an everyday scale, as well as spatial environments that resemble drawings. Kano’s works, which incorporate plants, animals and other objects involving an element of chance and contingency that eludes human control, make us aware of a conception of time that does not proceed in accordance with the nature of human perception. At the same time, they spark our imagination and prompt us to think about the non-human creatures and organisms that share our habitat, each living in what they consider to be “nature”.
Kano’s first solo show at YUKA TSURUNO consists of a newly conceived installation in the Naturplan series, as well as several drawings. "Protean wood" is based on the theories of Estonian biologist Jakob von Uexküll, who wrote that “a single oak tree plays widely diverging roles to each one of a whole host of different creatures,” and represents Kano’s own take on the subject. On the one hand, the artist gazes disbelievingly at the world before him, a passive bystander who casts a shadow of doubt on various phenomena that humans have ascribed significance to. At the same time, however, this work also showcases Kano’s keen powers of observation with regard to the natural environments of animals that transcend those anthropocentric notions, and the culture that derives from this alternative conception of nature.
Here are a few of Kano’s comments on this exhibition:
"Let’s say that a little bird is trying to find an ideal tree to perch on, out of all the places that it recognizes as part of nature. If the scope of this nature exceeds the limits of the bird’s awareness, it won’t be able to test every single tree to see which one makes the best fit. Conversely, if “nature” is smaller than the limits of its awareness, the bird is unable to ascertain whether or not the trees that exist within that conception of nature would be ideal. Regardless of how wide the scope of this nature is, the bird may not be able to find the ideal tree during its search.
Among these trees, however, there is a “Perch for Little Birds” that has been crafted into an ideal, pillar-like shape. But just what sort of bird could this ideal perch, conceived by a human mind, possibly be “ideal” for? Even if all the twigs in the world disappeared, these little birds would evolve and grow feet that would make a perfect, ideal fit for these manmade perches.
By combining several different materials, I make installations that resemble both birdhouses and traps. Many of these materials were originally made by assuming that they would fulfill some specific use or function. The question of how correct or accurate these assumptions are, however, is one of the hardest things to verify. Birds will fly around inside the gallery. Ultimately, these installations are akin to arbitrarily conceived drawings. For the birds, my works are perhaps nothing more than a new sort of natural environment. Even if these birds realized that what they understood to be “nature” was being continually renewed on a daily basis, I don’t think we need to be too concerned about them. They’ll just become conscious of this “new” nature, and it won’t be long before they adapt to it by some natural process of design. Of course, birds aren’t the only creatures that can perceive nature. What I think we ought to realize is the fact that human beings may not be able to find their place within the scheme of this “new nature” forever."
About the Artist:
Tetsuro Kano was born in Miyagi in 1980. He graduated Tokyo Zokei University majoring in design (Environmental Design/City Environmental Course) and received MFA at the same university. He has been focused on residency-based projects including Toride Art Project, Ibaraki (2004); Seoksu Art Project, Anyang, Korea (2010); NEO-TOPIA, Akiyoshidai International Art Village, Yamaguchi (2010); BIKKURI, Aomori Contemporary Art Centre, Aomori (2010). The recent solo exhibitions include Naturplan, Bloomberg Pavilion Projectm Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo (2011), and group exhibitions include Breathing Atolls: Japan-Maldives Contemporary Art Exhibition, National Art Gallery, Sultan Park, Maldives (2012); Niwa wo Megureba, Vangi Sculpture Garden Museum, Shizuoka (2012).
