Year: 2011
Medium: Epoxy resin, acrylic, spray, glass and plastic
Dimensions: 16.3 x 15 x 21 cm (6 3/8 x 5 7/8 x 8 1/4 in.)
Acquired from SBI Art Auction, 2023
A skull sculpture shaped with opal-like iridescent flakes. This work is a relatively early sculpture by Meguru Yamaguchi, who presents bold brushstrokes themselves as paintings. In the early 2010s, Yamaguchi created paintings that combined intense colors and brushstrokes that were too forceful to depict figurative images. Particularly, in the series where he portrayed his friends who appeared on social media in the same style, Yamaguchi used a torrent of color that seemed to disregard the shape of human form. However, he still managed to capture their rich facial expressions brilliantly. This work should be viewed with an understanding of the flow of such an early portrait series. Influenced by Impressionists and other artists, Yamaguchi aspired to become a painter. Thus, it is impossible that he would not have been aware of this, but whether it is in Vanitas or Memento Mori paintings, the skull in Western painting represents the existence of human beings who are inevitably exposed to mortality. The title of this work, “TELEXISTENCE,” is a coined term meaning remote control in robotics, referring to a technology that links the physical sensation of the human operator to a device acting on a remote object by applying sensory enhancement technology such as VR. More broadly, the word also suggests the possibility of SF-like technologies that allow humans to exist outside of their physical bodies. What, then, becomes of human life, of death, of the dignity that should be bound to our condition? Yamaguchi’s skull is an attempt to represent a new conception of life and death for humanity.
