EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State University's Kresge Art Museum presents "Hiraki Sawa: Other Dwellings," a pre-opening exhibition of the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, curated by Founding Director Michael Rush. The exhibition is on display April 30 through July 29. There will be an opening reception from 6 to 8 p.m. on April 29 that is free and open to the general public.
"Hiraki Sawa: Other Dwellings" presents seminal single-channel works of this young Japanese-born artist whose videos have placed him at the forefront of a new generation of video artists. Born in Kanazawa, Japan, in 1977, he has been living in London since 1997 when he enrolled at the University of East London, eventually earning an MFA from the Slade School of Art at University College London in 2003.
All of Sawa's videos, from the earliest single-channel pieces ("Dwelling," 2002; "Airliner," 2003; "Migration," 2003; "Elsewhere," 2003) to his multi-screen installations ("Going Places Sitting Down," 2004; "O," 2009), are intimate, sometimes hermetic meditations on place and the wonderfully odd activities that can occur in imaginative dimensions. The fantastical becomes everyday; the supernatural becomes commonplace.
"Sawa’s videos, prime examples of the artist’s intense communication with digital technologies, are at once haunting and playful. Even at a young age he mastered the art of surprise and deep connection with a variety of audiences," Rush said.
Another video installation, "Visualizing Sound," will also be on view at Kresge Art Museum from April 30 through July 29. Harry Bertoia's sound-producing, beryllium copper sculpture, "Sound Piece," 1978, will interact with a digital visualizer in this performative sculpture experience. The Bertoia, which entered the Kresge collection more than thirty years ago, will provide the source material for a mesmerizing kaleidoscope of shapes and colors projected onto a large screen.
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