Artist Statement


 In this age of media-driven world, it is very difficult to fuse reality based on personal experience and hyper-real which media represents. We blindly believe a standard that has been portrayed by media, even though this reality is actually false. We hardly find and keep a general reality in modern community. This current situation leads me to think about what reality is. I have been considering how art functions in our contemporary life.

 My artistic response to this question is to indicate the ambiguous common area between a subjective personal view of the world and a social common sense. Therefore, through my actual experiences, I am creating a work to describe the structure of paradoxical and invisible deception using ordinary objects metaphorically.

 On creating the work titled Double Negative (2000), I tried to show a people's uncertain awareness of time using contradictory rotation system; a miniature train runs on a round table but the table runs at the same speed in reverse. On the other work titled TO LET (2000), showing a public toilet under unusual situation, it indicates stereotyped behaviour based on custom, manners or common sense.

 My intention of all works is to make viewers aware what reality is through my point of view. I would like to reveal that blindly believed standard or common sense does not always embrace all individual reality.


March. 2001
Manya KATO