Hok II

Description

'Shed II' by Suchan Kinoshita consists of two interlinked spaces. In the first space, which does not give a view of what there is in the second, there is an hourglass. A number of collections are exhibited in the second space. There is a display case with spiders in formaldehyde. In another display case there are matchboxes with rolls of paper with writing rolled round a match inside them. In this display case there are photographs of people, not showing the head. There are socks and gloves hanging on hooks on a sheet of softboard and no two are alike. There are large slides of heads with their mouths open so wide that the throat is visible, hanging on a line and there are sheets of paper hanging on the wall, noting the time. There is also a cupboard with a speaker projecting the sounds of people sleeping, and there is a telephone hanging up which produces the sounds of eating when you pick up the phone.

This installation by Kinoshita was largely based on autobiographical elements. The sounds of sleeping and eating were made by her children. The photographs of the people are of herself and of her husband taken by her daughter. The slides of the throats are part of the inheritance of her father, who was a professional voice coach. The single socks and gloves are remainders of Kinoshita’s household. The rolls of paper contain diary notes which she wrote and the sheets of paper with the times are notes of the time at which the light went on or off in the premises that she looked out onto when she lived in Luik.

Kinoshita’s intention was to provide the visitor with an intense experience. She achieved this by appealing to the different senses, inviting the visitor to participate actively, for example, by answering the telephone or by the fact that only a few people can enter the intimate space at the same time. The first virtually empty space arouses curiosity, but the second is a sort of cabinet of rarities that also has a slightly domestic atmosphere. Kinoshita appeals to feelings of expectation and recognition. By looking at all sorts of personal fascinations, she wanted to put her public onto the track of a conscious experience of the environment in which both futile everyday matters, as well as very specialized activities, can be observed.

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