Les Choses
The Satsuma Vase Series
2012-2013
The Satsuma Vase series is a part of a wide body of work called
Les Choses (The Things) that focuses on collecting objects (mostly
miniatures). It raises questions about the object functions, it�s
various permutations and the meaning given to it in different periods
throughout history to the present.
The Satsuma vases were mad e in the later part of the 19th century,
through the early 1920�s in Satsuma, southern Japan. They are usually
decorated with intricate and minute Japanese figures, landscapes and
dragons.
Original pieces, made, painted and marked by hand only with Japanese
Kanji marks. Nowadays, they are being copied, mass produced and made
all over the world, turning the original skills of the ancient craftsmen
into objects and pieces that are available at any local antique shop. The
original pieces are rare and if intact and in good condition, can fetch a
high price from collectors.
Whether they are rare or mass produced, they reflect the cultural
characteristic of consumer society in which we live in - where a
seductive, accessible, materialistic and obsessive consuming is a part of
our everyday life.
The Images in this series focuses on the painted figures (and their
body gestures) that appears on the surface of the vases. This close-up
photographs also present the material characteristics of those objects.
The photography techniques used in the Satsuma Vase series emphasize
the seductive beauty of those miniatures whether they are an original
piece or a copy . The object is displayed as if viewed under a magnifying
glass to the point where one can�t reveal the scale of the object.
The work›s title is a tribute to Georges Perec›s book – Les Choses (in en.
Things: a Story of the sixties) describes the life of a young couple that is
obsessed with the desire of having things.
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