EDUCATION KIT | ARTIST FOLIOS
KENTARO HIROKI
THAILAND / JAPAN
Rubbish, 2016
KENTARO HIROKI
Rubbish, 2016
EDUCATION KIT
ARTIST FOLIOS
THE ARTIST
THE IDEA
Kentaro Hiroki (b. 1976, Osaka, Japan) has methodologically
The artwork Rubbish is the outcome of an action research
hand-copied receipts, tickets, rubbish and other everyday
that the artist Kentaro Hiroki conducted in a series
objects as a process of documenting his daily travel and
of field trips around Singapore. After observing and
activities since 1998. With a focus on the relationship
studying objects he chose from the streets, Hiroki made
between use-value and meaningfulness, his practice
paper reproductions of these objects with simple pencil
resides in the domain of translation and conversion.
drawings, completed with colour pencils. As he created
Hiroki obtained his MFA in Fine Art from at Malmö Art
each object, Hiroki observed that his body and mind
Academy, Sweden in 2003, and is currently a lecturer at
settled in place. In exploring the dichotomy1 of things
the School of Architecture and Design at King Mongkut’s
being useful/useless, meaningful/meaningless, he believes
University of Technology Thonburi, Bangkok, where he
that his work “addresses the value of self-reflection”.
has been based for the past decade. He has presented
his documentation of everyday life in six solo exhibitions
and a group show in countries such as the UK, Norway,
Germany, Sweden, Thailand, South Korea and Hong Kong.
He lives and works in Bangkok.
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Dichotomy: contrast between two things that are entirely different.
KENTARO HIROKI
Rubbish, 2016
THE ARTWORK
Colour pencil on paper (8 pieces)
Various dimensions
Collection of the Artist
Singapore Biennale 2016 commission
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Image courtesy of Singapore Art Museum
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OBSERVE AND DISCOVER
GUIDING QUESTIONS
SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES
1. Look at the artwork closely.
A. In his artwork Rubbish, Hiroki has used the technique
What is the artwork made of?
of appropriation2. Similarly, gather a few friends and
come up with your own version of the artwork.
2. Each object in the installation was selected and
You can consider creating different categories of
created by the artist based on his observation of
rubbish, such as waste found in offices, restaurants,
rubbish on the streets of Singapore. Do you think the
homes, etc.
objects selected are representative of the rubbish
found in Singapore? Why or why not?
KENTARO HIROKI
B. Learn more about the rubbish disposal system (and
recycling efforts) around your neighbourhood and
3. If you were to add one more object to the installation,
find out how you can contribute to it.
what would it be, and why?
Rubbish, 2016
4. After an object is used, it loses its economic value and
turns into rubbish. The artist has created art based on
such objects. What message do you think the artist
wishes to convey in his artistic process?
5.Titled Rubbish and comprising objects scattered on
the floor like debris, on what basis could this work be
considered art? And on what basis might it not be
considered art?
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3
Appropriation: the intentional borrowing, copying and changing of existing images and objects.
FIND OUT MORE
ARTWORK
INTERVIEW
BU Gallery (2015, April 22). SOUND OF SILENCE //
BU Gallery (2014, December 14). MEMERANDUM –
Kentaro Hiroki. Retrieved July 17, 2016, from
KENTARO HIROKI. Retrieved July 17, 2016, from
https://youtu.be/qt0kG1FR_Kw
https://youtu.be/vYCSk0yMcLg
BU Gallery (2015, March 30). Sound of Silence
// Kentaro Hiroki. Retrieved July 17, 2016, from
KENTARO HIROKI
Rubbish, 2016
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https://youtu.be/zo7HDpX7UUc
ABOUT SINGAPORE BIENNALE 2016
AN ATLAS OF MIRRORS
AT ONCE, MANY WORLDS
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FROM WHERE WE ARE,
HOW DO WE PICTURE THE WORLD ­—
AND OURSELVES?
Humankind has always devised ways of seeing
beyond sight. Two such instruments are the map
and the mirror, which make visible more than
just physical terrains. While the atlas – a book of
maps – locates where we are and charts where
we want to go, the mirror shows us to ourselves,
sometimes unreliably, and in curious ways.
Through an exploration of the literal and
metaphorical characteristics of atlas and mirror,
An Atlas of Mirrors reveals artistic perspectives
that arise from our migratory, intertwining
histories and cultures, particularly in Southeast,
East and South Asia.
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ABOUT THE ZONES
NINE
CONCEPTUAL
ZONES
The main title of the Biennale is woven through nine
• GEOMETRY & GEOGRAPHY
‘conceptual zones’, or subthemes, which locate each
• MIRRORS & MAPS
artwork in particular curatorial contexts. These zones
• SPACE & PLACE
shape the flow of the Biennale experience, like chapters
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in a book or sections in a poem. Like the title – ‘An Atlas
Where is ‘reality’, if every mapped ‘here’ is mirrored?
of Mirrors’ – which is built on the relationship between
Here, where culture-mapped territories and regions
a collective noun (“an atlas” as the collective noun) and
wend their way amidst world histories contained
what is being thought of ‘collectively’ (“mirrors”), these
within art’s histories, a mirror-scaled dragon heaves,
zones are conceptually themed along specific collective
bewilderingly opening up infinite flights of stairs within
nouns and what they hold together for contemplation
the curve of the stairwell in the heart of the museum.
and experience. Artworks located within each zone
Elsewhere, maps of present-day Sri Lanka and old
resonate on many levels, and at the same time, all nine
Ceylon jigsaw across space and time, whilst a pair of
zones coincide, intertwine and reflect each other along
artist-doppelgangers doggedly do balancing acts.
the conceptual continuum of ‘An Atlas of Mirrors’ as
a whole.
Space and place are explored and glimpsed through
mirrors and cartography, conjuring symmetrical and
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Each zone represents concepts, ideas and ways of seeing
asymmetrical parallel worlds where the real, surreal,
as explored in the 58 artworks and projects.
abstract and imaginary overlap.
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© 2016 Singapore Art Museum | © 2016 Individual contributors
All works are © the artists unless otherwise stated. Information correct at the time of publication. All rights reserved.
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