IO-2: Care - Daguerreotype Today: In an Age of Uncertainty

IO-2: Image Object Exhibition vol.2
"Care - Daguerreotype Today: In an Age of Uncertainty"
Cdags.jp
Dates: Oct 8 － Nov 16, 2021
Venue: PGI
TKB Bldg. 3F, 2-3-4 Higashiazabu, Minato-Ku, Tokyo, 106-0044, JAPAN
Supported by:
POLA Art Foundation
Arts Council Tokyo (Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture)
Nomura Foundation
The word “care” can have many connotations.
In this age full of uncertainty due to natural disasters, conflicts, and a pandemic, we chose this as the exhibition theme to consider what photography has captured and its limits.
This exhibition aims to re-examine how photography as a medium can mediate between people when we think about the value of family, society, oneself, others, and those involved in various issues.
Along with works by Takashi Arai, Binh Danh, and Jerry Spagnoli, works by awarded artists and public submissions under the theme of “care” will be exhibited.
At the dawn of photography in the nineteenth century, daguerreotype served as the means to secure memories of loved ones, as well as one’s likeness, for generations to come. The modern ability to instantly share photos extends the same determination that produced those old family albums and portraits. The ongoing crisis caused by the pandemic has served as a reminder of how precious-and fleeting-life truly is. We wish to recapture photography’s potential as a physical container of individuals’ memories, especially during these trying times. The theme of this exhibition, “Care,” is meant to be open-ended and freely interpreted. We hope this exhibition will inspire a sense of life and vitality widely in the face of current global struggles.
"In 1839, the history of photography began together with daguerreotypes. It’s been some 180 years since then, and, together with the development of media, photography has made it possible to share a cropped “reality” with others, being used in all kinds of fields as a way of motivating people. However, in the 19th century - especially when daguerreotypes were popular - photography was mainly seen as a “memory device” to capture one’s, or one’s family or loved ones, appearance for the future. It was an act that implied a special meaning.
Right after the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, the memory of volunteer groups cleaning family photos that were washed up on the shores and returning them to victims’ relatives is still fresh in our minds. It indicates photography’s value as a “memory device” for these once thought to be forgotten people is still invaluable in the 21st century.
In an age of great uncertainty, each of us must have started asking ourselves the meaning of life and death and how we can lend a helping hand to others.
In these times of “Caring,” how will we be reflected in daguerreotypes, the mirror of memory, and photography as an image object."
Takashi Arai (Artist/Film Director)