Photomania Diary '91, 1518-8-99
写狂人日記 '91 1518－8－99
- Birth Year
- 1940
- Death Year
- -
- Date
- 1992
- Technique, Material, Format
- color slide photographs, slide photograph projection box
- Dimension
- 120.0 x 180.0 x 21.0 cm
- Category
- Photograph or Moving Image by JapanesePhotographer/Artist
- Inventory Number
- 93-PHJ-054
These back-lit 35 millimeter slides form a diary of 1,518 snapshots of life taken during one year, from January to December 1991, by Araki Nobuyoshi (known simply as “Araki”). Instead of showing one image at a time, he chose to show a large number of them like this, as though to convey the entirety of his life and the lives of the many people he encounters. When the work was first exhibited, eight of the slides were confiscated by the police. This is because Japanese law prohibits public displays of genitals as they are likely to be considered obscene. A further 99 slides were voluntarily removed by the exhibition organizers, and hence several gaps are visible in the work. With references to those numbers (1,518 minus 8 minus 99) in its title, the work prompts reflection on the meaning of freedom of expression.
(KIMURA Eriko)