Kakinuma Koji
- EXHIBITION
- EVENT
01/3
Kakinuma’s art is a fusion of traditional calligraphy and contemporary art. He is known for producing sweeping works of over 10 meters (33 ft.) in size, as well as “trancework,” in which the same phrase is repeated, and more recently “tapework.” Speed is the key to all these techniques, which Kakinuma renders by moving his body in a musical rhythm. Calligraphy requires physical movement to produce a single, non-repeatable work. For Kakinuma, speed is his means of unlocking that moment. At Go for Kogei, he is presenting a rapid version of tapework, a performance in which he tears off pieces of masking tape of varying thicknesses and uses them to make characters. It is a form of calligraphy intentionally divorced from the nuances of a genre traditionally defined by brush and ink.