N

The exhibition is composed of a collection of various objects that allude  to two different disconnected worlds, and an analog record that functions as a bridge between them.

One of these two worlds is Titan, Saturn’s sixth and largest moon. Discovered by Dutch astronomer Christian Huygens in 1655, the planet-like moon is the only satellite body in the solar system other than Earth to have a nitrogen-rich atmosphere. Nitrogen, the chemical element with the atomic number 7, is symbolized by the letter “N”. It is this nitrogen-filled world, characterized by its dry, ochre-colored surface,  from which Tamura derives the world of “N”.

Furthermore, "N", when read in Japanese, is pronounced with two syllables "eh-nu". Reversing these syllables gives us the word nue (鵺), which itself is a combination of two Chinese characters, night (夜) and bird (鳥). This word is the name for the legendary Japanese creature that appears in old tales like the Heike Monogatari, a creature with the face of a monkey, body of a raccoon, arms and legs of a tiger, and tail of a snake. An analogous Western comparison may be the chimera. Nue is also a type of play within the classical Japanese dance-drama, Noh. This other world, expressed within the exhibition space as a dark blue hue, represents the quiet sleeping nighttime, the other side of our world.

These two seemingly unconnected worlds, like the two opposing sides of a vinyl record, are the two opposing sides of the letter “N”.

Graham Harman (1968-), the contemporary philosopher who developed the idea of object-oriented ontology (OOO), writes in his book Immaterialism: Objects and Social Theory:

Graham’s theory suggests that humans do not actually have full access to the objects we sense and perceive; rather, we can only perceive things through indirect, implicit, and secondary means. In other words, we can never access the true essence of an object, but only an aspect of it.

This way of thinking provides us with hints as to how to interpret Tamura’s exhibition. Harman’s philosophical stance does not suggest that objects exist solely in relation to us, but rather shares with naïve realism the idea that objects exist outside of human consciousness regardless of the existence of human beings. However, in regards to the question of whether people can access the true essence of an object, he asserts that we cannot. In other words, we can perceive a single side of a thing, such as it’s “given role”, through our indirect, implicit, and secondary means of perception (like the “N” in this exhibition), but we are not able to arrive at it’s true essence.

According to Harman, most of us approach objects believing that there are only two kinds of knowledge we can have about them: what they are made of, and what they do. The modern Western scientific community attempts to approach the path to understanding by reducing a subject to its parts; the humanities and sociology, on the other hand, pursue vague hypotheses, venturing into dark abysses to discover the unexplainable. However, the essence of an object has other sensory properties that cannot be accessed through just these usual interactions. Only through manipulation of the object from a different aspect may we encounter its hidden essence in some unexpected form.

Through anagrams, Tamura juxtaposes events in different dimensions, phases, and eras within the same plane, just as our ancestors did with stars in the night sky. Just as constellations were created by connecting many individual points of light, Tamura draws lines between objects placed on a shared plane to create a new constellation. In his book Sekai wa waketemo wakaranai (The world cannot be understood even when divided) (2009), biologist Shinichi Fukuoka (1959-) describes the world as such:

All factors in this world govern or complement each other. They exchange matter, energy, and information. If we capture an interaction at just one singular moment in time, it will seem to us that there is a giver and a receiver. But when we open up this derivative equation and observe the next moment in time, the cause and effect has been reversed. Or they have moved on in search of another equilibrium. Essentially, what we refer to as “causality” does not actually exist in this world. We must divide the world to understand it.

Yet the world cannot be understoodeven when divided. But when we open up this derivative equation and observe the next moment in time, the cause and effect has been reversed. Or they have moved on in search of another equilibrium. Essentially, what we refer to as “causality” does not actually exist in this world. We must divide the world to understand it. Yet the world cannot be understood even when divided.

Fukuoka’s conclusion asserts that we can not understand the world, even if we reduce it into parts. Objects and things communicate with each other regardless of human intervention. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.  , but that does not mean that everything can be understandable.

When the “emergence” of the collection of manipulated objects leads to properties or behaviors that the scattered pieces do not have on their own– that is, when the whole becomes greater than its parts– that gap becomes the manifestation of an irreducible new meaning produced through the paraphrase of art.

“N” is not only the tale of an insomniac, but also a story that resides within each viewer.

Thanks to Mikami Mariko, Murakami Miki, Ohno Kurena, Araki Masamitsu, Komatsu Kazumichi, Mimasu Yusuke, Uruno Kei, Seko Ryoga, Onaka Shunsuke(Calamari Inc.), Hugh Aldersey-Williams, Sasao Chigusa, Okumura Yuki, Leiden University Libraries, Kawashima Selkon Textiles Co.,Ltd., HIGURE 17-15 cas Co., Ltd.