Wood grain? Wave? Well, what does it look like to you? To me, the textile made of black letters and white paper looked like a natural fractal pattern. Different expressions emerge depending on the language used (French or Japanese), columns, or color of the page. According to Iida, books he “doesn’t know why but is attracted to” are transformed into something elusive and mysterious through sculpting process.

At the exhibition, the following was stated: “You cannot read the core essence of a book such as ‘contents, meaning, and text’. However, these fragments and slivers tell ‘something’ that cannot be explained in words. ‘Books’ and ‘letters’ sublime into something else by ‘sculpting/cutting’. To sculpt ‘books’ and ‘letters’ may offer a glimpse of ‘something that is invisible or cannot be seen’.”

Cutting through a book. Cutting out letters from a book. The result is an indescribable object without a particular message. Various expressions in his works taught us that even books – of accumulation of information – can prove a beauty of material. His art makes a strong new impact on viewers, and that is because of its startling subversion of context.

Ryuta Iida Exhibition
Date: June 13th – July 2nd, 2006
Place: (g)
Address: 2F, 1-31-12 Ebisu Nishi, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
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