
Yumiko Chiba Associates is excited to present Optical Dismantlement, an exhibition by Wataru Yamamoto (b. 1986). Employing photography as his medium throughout, and developing original production techniques for each series, Yamamoto has presented a range of intriguing works that include Plane Tree Observations, Drawing a Line, Spring, Shimi Some Shiwa, and Desired Forms (2012–2017). This sixth Wataru Yamamoto exhibition at YCA will consist of an installation using optical fiber, titled Optical Dismantlement, and photographic works based on this installation.
In works such as Plane Tree Observations, in which he applied high frequency/high voltage current to plants and captured the light emitted by them due to electrical discharge; Spring, in which he used water and color film to photograph temperature changes in heat from the sun; and Shimi Some Shiwa, which documented changes in the surface of cloth steeped in UV-sensitive fluid, Yamamoto has employed diverse methods to capture the sunlight and sensitizing effects that have been both formative conditions for photography, and its very underpinnings.
At this exhibition Yamamoto will present a group of works that employ artificial optical fibers, rather than the natural light previously featured in his work. “Light” in today’s world, including the IT environments that are physical pathways for light, and form high-speed communications networks that allow vast amounts of data traffic in internet environments, is as an indicator of the speed of information transmission, and at the same time the light emitted by displays and monitors, and the physical optical cables. Don’t miss this latest offering from Wataru Yamamoto, which looks at these various phases of “light” and asks what exactly constitutes an “image” in today’s world, where the boundaries between information, picture, video and photograph have become impossibly blurred.

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