Serpentine
In Conversation with Gozo Yoshimasu
Writer: Lauren Plumb
There is an atmosphere of adoration in the room whilst waiting for the practical part of the show to commence. Following on from an insightful conversation between Yoshimasu and Serpentine's artistic director, Hans Ulrich Obrist.
In which Yoshimasu describes one of the main things that he thinks pushed him to a career in the arts: “The reasons why I first got in touch with the artistic world was possibly because I have this deep sense of fear inside me.” From this moment everyone is in awe of the artist in front of them.
The performance begins with Yoshimasu blindfolding himself, blocking out all external influence on his work. He stands centre stage and waits to begin. Below him on the floor lays his art supplies; A variety of inks, pigments, and incense. As soon as he was ready, he placed a ruler on his head to balance and stills.
Once everyone in the room is observing, waiting to see what will happen next, he commences; the presentation starts with a series of self-recorded videos, playing on a screen behind Yoshimasu. Flashes of nature, images of a man, and a Panasonic recorder overlay one another.
He talks deeply over the poem in the background, mimicking the words.
Then the artwork begins, he speaks on the honour of being first recipient of the Serpentine Flag Foundation prize. He mentions his shock at the award because of his lack of a studio to work from.
This is happening whilst a bell dings and music reminiscent of a fairground plays in the background.
He bends down to pick up the first bottle of ink. He talks about hearing the sounds of water through the ink and begins to pour. Slowly dripping the liquid onto the page below. Silence envelops the room. Once finished with the white ink, he picks up a deep red bottle and jokes about the expense of the item.
Yoshimasu then takes a break from creating the work to listen to some of the items he has with him on stage. Around his neck is a cowbell that was given to him by a French musician which he talks about the importance of.
He also holds up a whale’s tooth he owns: “to realise how this colour is important, it might take hundreds of years but somewhere in my mind knows, and I can sense that.”
He picks up the same ruler from the start of the show and amuses everyone with an additional: “I don’t know why I feel like putting this on my head, I don’t know why.”
Gold ink is poured on, adding the finishing touch to the artwork.
Yoshimasu explains that each drop of ink has a different voice and speaks to him in different ways. This is interesting to hear, with him wearing an eye mask during this performance it’s as though he is tapping into those other senses. He seems spiritually in tune with the supplies he is using.
Seemingly finished with the painting portion of the show Yoshimasu removes his eye mask and looks towards the art piece. All he says is: “I am satisfied.”
Then I experienced possibly the most breathtaking, spoken performance. Yoshimasu introduced his wife to the crowd and as she stood to the side of the stage, she began to sing. Clips were still playing on the big screen, flickers of a holiday to Paris. Yoshimasu stands to her side and starts using the cowbell as an instrument.
The crowd was silent; watching on in amazement.
Goosebumps appeared on my skin, I felt as though I was experiencing some kind of ritualistic event. In that moment I felt like I was a part of something Important. I don’t know if I will ever experience that feeling again.
In a way Yoshimasu is the art itself, at the end he, himself is also covered in the inks and pigments used.
Once the show concluded, Yoshimasu gave us the go ahead to look at the work he had created. On the page, a beautiful marbling of colour. White, pink, red, and gold all intertwined with one another.
It reminds me almost of a puddle of blood, the deepness of the expensive ink used. It is beautiful in that way. Being able to experience the method Yoshimasu uses increases the hold the artwork has on you, the unusuality of it all.
