The Process Room

The Process Room

West Wing, First Floor Galleries, Irish Museum of Modern Art

The function of the Process Room is to reveal the processes in the creation, exhibition and consideration of contemporary art, which are often hidden from the public. The Process Room facilitates access to the ongoing practice of artists currently on residence at IMMA. This residency programme is located in the studios adjacent to the main Museum building where several studios are allocated to both national and international artists. The Process Room is used on a rotating basis and artists participating on ARP receive a two-week period to display their developing projects from their studio practice.

Yuki Okumura

Studio 12 _ Japan

Half the World Away

27.11.07 – 09.12.07

“The main video piece features a punctured yellow soccer ball shot at several spots in the site of IMMA. At first in the video, only half of the ball appears, but gradually and slowly it inflates to the full circle. In reality, the ball gets air from outside by itself, but as an image, it may look like the ball is in the transitional state; first it appears like a half ghost, not all there, but gradually it comes to this world, finally appearing as a full entity. This transitional state, somehow, is analogous to my state in last 2 months in Ireland. When I first came here, I felt like half of me was still in Tokyo, invisible, half the world away from Dublin. The works here all reflect my observation of the city and the people here, in such absent-minded state.”

_{Yuki Okumura _ ARP ‘07}

Through his work Yuki Okumura aims to illuminate and even reconcile the gap between the physical world itself and the work perceived by the human brain. He probes the concept of identity and what makes the human mind and self unique. One element of his practice has expanded the realm of body art through the creation of discrete and precious works constructed from fingernails and saliva. Okumura exploits the uneasy tension between the animate and inanimate. His other works play with the notion of time and travel, bringing us on impossible journeys with numbers, digestion, feedback and everyday objects. Born in Aomori and based in Tokyo, Yuki graduated from Tama Art University and received an M.F.A. at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music (2004). In 2000, he was awarded the Grand Prix, Philip Morris Asian Art Awards. In 2001, he participated in First Steps: Emerging Artists from Japan, Grey Art Gallery, New York University. For further information on Okumura’s practice please go to www.misakoandrosen.com

For more information on any aspect of the Artists’ Residency Programme please contact Janice Hough, Artists’ Residency Programme Co-ordinator, tel + 353-1-612 9905 or email [e-mail] . Website www.imma.ie



Yuki Okumura’s residency is kindly supported by: