Commissioned video art work for APEX Gallery
A little boy causes a woman to disintegrate, soft organs to evaporate and skin to scorch from
bone, as a city is left in ruin all within one second.
Conveying a dream-like fluidity of the past, present and future, QA takes a deep dive into the
instantaneous span in which Hiroshima permanently altered human history. Through video
installation, Kyoto born Butoh artist azumi O E, takes a dichotomous probe into an
individualistic perspective of a world calamity.
QA utilizes cutting edge technology to investigate and interpret both momentum and memory.
Shot on high speed 1000 photographs per second, technic phantom camera, the work(s)
deconstructs the second into a nine minute reversed visual loop. Mirroring the cyclical and
often distorted playback of human recollection and transference of human conscious and
subconscious. QA emphasizes the velocity and aftermath contained within Little Boy’s
immediate destruction through intricate detailed movements at a suspended pace. Observers
are transported into an alternate expansion of time and asked to question, WHO OWNS OUR
MOMENT? If our present is continually impacted by the actions of outside dynamics, be it
physical forces or memories we are culled to revisit, what part of it truly belongs to us? As our
world grows increasing in distraction and rapid change, are we truly aware of the length of a
moment? QA provides a surreal passage into the pendulum between the weight and space of
the split second moment the atomic bomb eviscerated 140,000 lives.
Using her body as medium, azumi O E dissects societal crises of a post globalized world. Her
raw live Butoh performances use shocking, playful and intense movements to explore those
questions which brings us together; “What makes a human being?” and further “What does it
even mean to be human?
“ELONGATED SHADOWS” Group exhibition Curated by Liz Faust at ApexART
Elongated Shadows is a multimedia exhibition examining the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, from the viewpoint of both the Americans who were behind the research and detonation of the bombs, and the Japanese civilians who were victimized in the infamous attacks.
Kei Ito is a third-generation hibakusha, a survivor of the atomic bombings. Through his work, he reflects upon his grandfather’s experience in an effort to better understand his own inherited trauma and the unknown impact of radiation across generations. Japanese artist Migiwa Orimo’s uncle barely escaped the bombing of Nagasaki. Her work examines our collective memories and their origins. A third Japanese artist, Azumi O E, makes a dichotomous probe into an individualistic perspective of a world calamity through Butoh—a distinctly Japanese artform.
Three additional artists have ties to the American side of the conflict. Suzanne Hodes has an intimate connection to the bombings as the wife one of the lead scientists who contributed to the creation of the bomb with the Manhattan Project. Andrew Paul Keiper and Ari Beser are both separated from the conflict by a generation. Keiper’s grandfather was an engineer for the Manhattan Project and Beser’s grandfather was the only person to fly on both the flights that dropped atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Planned for the 75th year anniversary of the bombings, the exhibition revisits one of the biggest catastrophes of human history in an effort to encourage a more measured response to current nuclear tensions. Elongated Shadows reveals the true impact of nuclear bombs. Gathering artists forever connected by tragedy, it prompts reflection on themes of forgiveness, identity, and heritage.
