Membrane that defines the existence

Hirohiko Akutsu 

 

　From birth to death, we all live ourselves as individuals. To do this, we must first "separate oneself" from others, as the word "self" implies.

　If our bodies were made of the candy ball-like material, our palms would melt and fuse when we joined hands. If that were to happen, we would lose the sense of how far we are from ourselves. This does not occur because our materiality separates us from the other in a proactive way. The skin is at this boundary.

 

The skin covers the periphery of the body without any breaks. You may think that the eyes, nose, and mouth are cut off because they have holes in them, but the surface of the eyes is like transparent skin, and the surface of the nose and inside of the mouth is also continuous with the skin. The inner surface of the digestive tract, from the mouth through the gastrointestinal tract to the ass, is also continuous with the skin. The inner surface is wet and called a mucous membrane, but its structure is basically the same as the skin's. Thus, the skin is not only the body's outer surface, but also the inner surface, completely separating the outside from the interior.

　Although this may seem contradictory to the function of separating oneself from others, the skin also has a function of absorption. When ointments are applied, drugs soak into the skin, and nutrients from the food we eat are taken into the body from the inner surface of the digestive tract.

 

　It does not only take in physical entities.　Contact sensors in the skin tell us when something touches it.　The surrounding temperature, light, sound, smell, and taste are also transmitted through the skin.　In other words, information coming from the outside is also taken in through the skin. Without the skin, we would not know where we are or what is around us.

　Skin also transmits information to one's surroundings. The various body colors of animals are messages to conspecifics and hostile species. Facial expressions are the most essential information transmission from the skin. Muscles are embedded in the skin of the face, enabling it to produce a wide variety of facial expressions.

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　Why have we looked at the skin to this point? It is in response to the membranous nature of Masumi Okuda's works. The holes and cavities shown in the works in this exhibition emphasize the membranous nature of the work's surface. The human-shaped membrane also refers to the skin.

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　Okuda has consistently worked on human figures. His technique is exclusively plastic modeling, sometimes cast in bronze, but mostly in terra cotta, fired unglazed from a clay figure. Due to the material's nature, these works' interiors must be hollow. Hollowing the inside is done after the outside has been formed. That is, hollowing is a work process, and the work cannot be completed without going through it. In other words, the void is an essential element for the existence of the work. Therefore, it is natural for the artist to find the void as an element of the work. Through his daily creative activities, the artist must have been aware of the necessity of the body's interior, which is not usually paid attention to. Thus, the inside of the body is crucial for the outside of the body to be formed.

　We always see only the surface of an object. When we interact with someone, we see the skin of their face, and if they are wearing clothes, we see those as the surface. Whether there is an interior or not, we only believe it because our experience and knowledge tell us there is.

　Medicine, which explores the body, has revealed the skin's inner structure, but our everyday senses are different. We do not usually think about what is inside the skin. At best, we have a vague idea that it encloses bones, muscles, blood, and internal organs. Inside the skin, even our own body, is an unknown darkness.

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　"I think the environment surrounding a human being seems to enter through the skin into the body." (Okuda)

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　Skin and clothing separate us from our environment. However, Okuda says, that by sensing the environment through them and accumulating it in the body, our spirit, as well as our appearance, might be transformed.

 

　In "Spring Scenery" (2015) and "Autumn Scenery" (2016), we see patterns of autumn leaves and cherry blossoms symbolizing the respective seasons, but these are not mere clothing patterns, as evidenced by the fact that they extend beyond the clothing to the body parts. They are probably a reflection of the environment surrounding this individual. Just as sunlight warms the body, the surrounding environment seeps into the body through the clothing and skin. This changes their mental image; simultaneously, it is transmitted from their bodies and propagated to their surroundings again.

　The pattern on the surface of "Shallow Sleep" (2005), which appeared as a pattern on clothing, is expressed beyond the boundary of the clothing in "Spring Landscape". In "Autumn Landscape," a part of the pattern appears as a hole on the surface. In "Flowers of the Heart" (2017), holes in the shape of large flowers open on the face and head.

　The holes in these works connect the outside and the inside, just like the mouth of a container, and express, in sculptural form, the permeating power of the surrounding environment reflected in the body to penetrate its interior.

　With its head lying down, "Sound of the Sky" (2017) appears to be a piece of a shell, aided by its emotionless face. There are other figures, such as "Sorrowful Empty Shell" and "Transparent Wings" (both 2017), also lying on one side, each of which exposes the hollow interior. These figures, showing their form through these thin membranes, show us both the ephemeral and essential nature of the elements that define our appearance.

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　Okuda's serene female figures seem to be passively sensing their surroundings on the surface, rather than actively observing their surroundings with their eyes and ears. It is as if they are immersed in deep contemplation.

　Indeed, when I ponder the past, I may be replaying the colors and sounds of those surroundings I had experienced some time ago, which had seeped through my skin. When I think of this, I realize that the membrane of skin is not only the material self, but also the boundary defining the subjective self.

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September 11, 2017

(Hirohiko Akutsu / Artistic Anatomy)
1998 M.F.A. Tokyo University of the Arts, Tokyo, Japan. 2012 Completed Doctoral program, at Graduate School of Medicine, Juntendo University. Dr. of Medicine. Teaches artistic anatomy and anatomy at Tokyo University of the Arts, Tokyo Zokei University, Musashino University, and other universities. Tries to connect art, medicine, and exercise based on the human body as a keyword. Numerous anatomical drawings have been published in art critiques and books. Book: "Understanding Art Anatomy through Stereoscopic Images".

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