Counter Skin (colors)

Miyajima made painted numbers counting down on the human bodies (a black man and a woman, a white man and a woman, a yellow man and a woman)

The concept of the work is “Painting time on the belly of others.” Others are white men and women, black men and women, yellow man and woman. By looking at the work, the viewers could feel the smell of others, feel the pain of others, feel the anger of others, feel the joy of others, feel the presence of others and accept their own others. Then, the color of skin becomes meaningless and the Life itself starts a conversation.

Cf. in 2020, skin color cases are becoming a worldwide concern. George Floyd was an African American man who was killed by the police during arrest in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020. He was killed by a policeman, who had his knees stomped on his neck for more than eight minutes and could not breath. With his death, people all over the world are screaming, “Don’t discriminate on the basis of different skin colors”.

Miyajima was skeptical about leaving this performance as a video work because it is so important to keep the process, thoughts and reality of the performance. However, it cannot be seen from the video. Therefore, in 2020, he decided to make a drawing work part of the performance with video attached. The whole process becomes a real artwork. Details of the work are below.

Title: Counter Skin (colors)

Material: Performance video DVD and Blu-ray Disc (Yellow Color on Black Man: 26 min 42 sec, White Color on Black Woman: 28 min 39 sec, White Color on Yellow Man: 17 min 25 sec, Yellow Color on Yellow Woman: 9 min 41 sec, Black Color on White Man: 21 min 30 sec, Black Color on White Woman: 25 min 2 sec), pencil, pigment ink, acrylic paint, on wooden panel with frame.

Size: 56 x 82.5 x 5 cm

ED: 3