Ikuhisa Sawada and Marc Nagtzaam OTHERS : Segment 2, 3

Standing in parallel with the first book of the OTHERS project, which saw two distant artists merge together as they travelled along crossing lines towards ends which were both shared and separate, this new book makes clear the relationship between these two ends, which were realized as two distant exhibitions, one in Tokyo and the other in Antwerp, built by each artist in isolation yet through the accumulating influence of the other, forming an intricate structure which spanned space and time.

The book as a single object is built through the combination of two intact distinct objects. These two objects differ in material and content, each representing one of the two exhibitions. Beginning as flat sheets, layer by layer these two objects are merged together in an alternating but random order. After being fully combined, these sheets are folded in half, and suddenly the two exhibitions become intertwined, juxtaposed and connected—transcending vast distance to reveal their existence as reflections of one another, walls blending together, lines drawn by different hands joining trajectories, like two parallel instances of the same state of being, the collaboration in visualized and made tangible.

OTHERS : The project comprises of three regional exhibitions and a series of publications that recreate the entire project in book form. The exhibitions were held in Tokyo (The White) in June of 2023, in Antwerp (FRED&FERRY) in September of the same year, and in Shanghai in November of 2024 (Archipelago Books). 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.

Marc Nagtzaam : (b. 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. Recent solo exhibitions include; 2020: Various, Elsewhere, Ongoing, [‘ka:jeta:n], Raum für Kunst, Berlin(DE)/ 2019: Regular Features, art3, Valance(FR)and Regular Features. Archiv, Zürich(CH). Duo exhibitions: 2021: Dialogue(with Meryem Bayram), Fred & Ferry, Antwerp(B)/ 2019: Regular Features(with Mark Manders). Enter Enter, Space for Books, Amsterdam and group exhibitions: 2023: 2003 - 2023, ProjecteSD, Barcelona(ES)/ 2022: Unboxing Aspen 5 + 6, Estrany-de la Mota. Barcelona(ES)/ 2020: Regular Features and Borrowed Space(curated by M.N.)ProjecteSD, Barcelona(ES)/ 2021: One way or another(with Hans Demeulenaere), SMAK, Ghent(B)/ Doppelgänger(with Hans Demeulenare). De Garage, Mechelen(B)/ Minstens 1 ½ uur en terug. De Warande, Turnhout(B)/ Kajetan Presents: [‘ka:jeta:n], Raum für Kunst, Berlin(DE). Recent publications: 2023: Present, Roma Publications 438 / 2022: Farben, Roma Publications 416 / 2019: Borrowed Space. Roma Publications 376.

Ikuhisa Sawada : (b.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. Significant exhibitions include "αM Project 2017 - Mirrors and Holes - Photography into Sculpture." vol. 2 (curator: Yuri Mitsuda/2017/αM/Tokyo), "space/guide/volume" (2021/CAVE-AYUMIGALLERY /Tokyo), "Export/Import" supported by the Royal Netherlands Embassy (2021/The White/Tokyo and ps. K_o_t_/Amsterdam and the Royal Netherlands Embassy/Tokyo) a year-long series of monthly exhibitions titled "closed circuit, monthly vol.1- vol12" (The Gallery/Tokyo) and ”Biennale de l'image tangibles" (2021/Paris). He participated in "New York Art Book Fair" in New York (2018), “Hong Kong Art Book Fair” in Hong Kong (2019), and “SWAB Art Fair" in Barcelona (2022).
In 2017, his photo book "closed circuit" was published by his label; in 2018, “substance" was published by RONDADE; and in 2021 participated in "c-site.3 : Other” published by da-in-print.

Pages: 120
Dimensions: 220 × 297 mm
Format: Softcover
Language: English
Year: 2024
Publisher: ori.studio