On my recent trip to Tokyo, I was lucky enough to be invited by Perrier-Jouet to the studio of Floral artist Azuma Makoto. While in the studio I stumbled on his series of prints from his Distortion x Flowers projects and immediately was attracted by these visuals…
Project Statement:
One might not see the similarity in flowers and music. However, rock or classic, or whatever the genre may be, music is the combining of momentary sounds. The process of creating music never stops to stay in one form, but is constantly appearing and disappearing, just as flowers blossom beautifully and yet wither away in time. So, flowers are like music, and music is like flowers.
As if arranging flowers in a vase, Azuma creates his botanical works each inspired by different sounds from the effectors. Bewitching, luscious, abrasive or fierce. The various expressions of Azuma’s flower arrangements coexist next to each other. At the show opening, as part of the exhibition Azuma and his associates performed a guitar session directly on the installation of arranged flowers, which was soon destroyed in the performance.
It lies in the center of the space during the exhibition, still bearing the vividness of the live performance. And, there is also the video documentation of the performance laid on the floor. Together they capture the sense of distorted sounds, which is the very theme of this exhibition. Yet my focus keeps going back to the photographs.
Taken by Azuma’s artistic partner Shiinoki Shunsuke, these photographs capture the flowers that once lived yet still continue to breathe in the photographs. Both Azuma and Shiinoki have the ability to feel the throb of flowers, which is exactly what is expressed in this exhibition: the very sound of life.
See more at www.distortion-flowers.com & www.azumamakoto.com
