Marc Nagtzaam and Ikuhisa Sawada OTHERS : Segment 1 - Process 1

“OTHERS” is a collaborative project between Japanese photographer Ikuhisa Sawada and Dutch artist Marc Nagtzaam. Beginning at opposite ends of a long distance, the trajectories of the two artists resemble a series of paths traveling towards one another following parallel lines, passing as they reach out for ends that are simultaneously shared and separate. This book, the first of four for this project, documents the act of “communication through artwork” through a series of images and sketches generated in the lead up to their first exhibition in Tokyo, as they allowed their work to change and adapt as it entered into the gravitational influence of the “other”.

Using paper which incorporates a textural difference on either side, the book in its original state is a completely flat unbound object, the work of the two artists being separated by virtue of never appearing on a single surface, but rather on opposing sides. Through the simple act of folding this object in half, a series of relationships appear like a weaving intervention piercing the artists lines and causing them to intertwine, though maintaining their independence by way of their continued textural and structural distinction as the book remains unbound. Going further, by turning this now folded object inside out, the chronology and relationships are reversed, allowing the symmetrical nature of the project to become graspable, and when reaching the conclusion of one path actualized in the book you are led to the beginning of the other, a loop like continuation exposing similarity, difference, and the growing influence on each other through proximity leading to organic change and inventive adaptation.

OTHERS : The project comprises of three regional exhibitions and an art book that recreates the entire project in book form. The exhibitions will be held in Tokyo (The White) in June of 2023, in Antwerp (FRED&FERRY) in September of the same year, and in Beijing in 2024 (dates and venues to be decided). The theme of the exhibition is communication through artwork and the resulting expansion of said artwork. For each exhibition, the artist will first send a piece of work to the other artist based in the respective city, who then interprets it and proposes a venue configuration. The plan is then shared among all participants. The exhibition space is constructed interactively, incorporating each artist's response, including adding new works and updates to the installation. By actively incorporating unexpected elements that arise between the artists and others, elements such as misunderstandings and discrepancies brought about by their interpretations, we hope that others will intrude into the work and that this will ultimately trigger an organic metamorphosis of the work that transcends the artist's original intentions.

Ikuhisa Sawada (1970-), based in Tokyo. Photographer and the director of the alternative space "The White" from 2014 to the present. He participated in the Osamu Kanemura workshop. Sawada uses the recording and mechanical properties of the camera to discover new ways of looking at things unrecognized by everyday vision. He has been working continuously on the "closed circuit" project since 2011. He makes large prints of photographs taken in public places (train stations) familiar to many people. He displays them in a layered manner in the exhibition space. As viewers walk among the photographs, the images interfere with each other. The artist attempts to create a new landscape by deconstructing and reconstructing relationships. 

Marc Nagtzaam (1968-), based in Hoofdplaat, The Netherlands. Marc Nagtzaam has been producing a body of work that is based on one main subject: the idea of pattern, the repetition. He draws lines, grids, circles, words or sentences as in an endless search for new combinations and structures. The repetition and the graphic structure of his works seems reminiscent of minimal and conceptual aesthetics. Most of Marc Nagtzaam's drawings consist of darkly filled in graphite surfaces. Abstracted elements from architecture, graphic design, details from found photographs, or parts from previous drawings are starting points for every series of works. This source material is being reduced, with basic, elementary means: dots, lines and flat surfaces, to construct a sort of structure. 

Pages: 130
Dimensions: 220 × 290 mm
Format: Softcover
Language: English
Year: 2023
Publisher: ori.studio