Takafumi Ide

Sunroom Project Space 2010: Takafumi Ide
Sunroom Project Space | May 22 – June 27, 2010

Takafumi Ide activates the Sunroom Project Space at Wave Hill’s Glyndor Gallery with observe, an installation with both sculptural and sound-based elements. For this work, Ide casts the Sunroom as an observatory, conjuring a view of the world that is unconstrained by traditional boundaries of distance and optical ability. Eight narrow strips of wood hang in a circular formation, printed on the inside with tiny photographic images, as well as small areas of drawing and painting. Sets of attached speakers emit unique audio recordings. The image and sound components depict a collection of global locations, selected for the personal and emotional significance they hold for the artist.

Ide uses Polaroid film and emulsion transfer to imprint photographs of the sites on the curved wood. The resulting images have a milky, slightly blurred quality that presents a distant, telescopic view. Each image corresponds to its directional location, as well as to the accompanying sound component. To the east, Barcelona is represented by the striking architecture of one of its famous churches, Sagrada Familia, and to the west, a train station in east Tokyo is embodied by the sound of a passing commuter train at the Shinagawa Station. Images and sound sourced from places as varied as Wave Hill, Brazil, Virginia, Chicago, Manhattan and New Mexico are experienced alongside one another. The sounds of each site blend into one multi-layered, dimensional composition. Together, these visual and audio depictions combine to create an observatory for the visitor to view the world as seen through Ide’s eyes.

Takafumi Ide is a lecturer in Digital Art at Stony Brook University, The State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY; and Suffolk County Community College, Selden, NY. His work was featured in recent juried exhibitions at the Second Street Gallery, in Charlottesville, VA, and at the Castle Gallery, The College of New Rochelle, New Rochelle, NY. In September of 2010, he will have a solo exhibition at the ISE Art Gallery at the ISE Cultural Foundation, New York, NY. He has been selected for residencies at the Vermont Studio Center, in Johnson, VT; and Sculpture Space, Utica, NY; and has received grants from the Nomura Cultural Foundation in Tokyo, Japan; the Individual Development Awards Program for New York State; and the Strategic Opportunity Stipend (SOS) Program through the New York Foundation for the Arts. He has a BA in Graphic Design from Tama Art University, Tokyo, Japan, and an MFA in Studio Art from Stony Brook University.

observe, 2010
Wood, speaker wire, speakers, marble powder, matte medium, water, Polaroid film, carbon film, colored pencil, acrylic color
8 ½ feet in diameter, hanging five feet from the ceiling
Courtesy of the artist

observe, 2010
Wood, speaker wire, speakers, marble powder, matte medium, water, Polaroid film, carbon film, colored pencil, acrylic color
8 ½ feet in diameter, hanging five feet from the ceiling
Courtesy of the artist