HILIT KADOURI
Les Choses
The Satsuma Vase Series
2012-2013
The Satsuma Vase series is a part of a wide body of work called Les Choses (The Things) that focuses on collecting objects (mostly miniatures). It raises questions about the object functions, its various permutations and the meaning given to it in different periods throughout history to the present.
The Satsuma vases were made in the later part of the 19th century, through the early 1920s in Satsuma, southern Japan. They are usually decorated with intricate and minute Japanese figures, landscapes and dragons.
Original pieces, made, painted and marked by hand only with Japanese Kanji marks. Nowadays, they are being copied, mass produced and made all over the world, turning the original skills of the ancient craftsmen into objects and pieces that are available at any local antique shop. The original pieces are rare and if intact and in good condition, can fetch a high price from collectors.
Whether they are rare or mass produced, they reflect the cultural characteristic of consumer society in which we live in – where a seductive, accessible, materialistic and obsessive consuming is a part of our everyday life.
The Images in this series focuses on the painted figures (and their body gestures) that appears on the surface of the vases. This close-up photographs also present the material characteristics of those objects.
The photography techniques used in the Satsuma Vase series emphasize the seductive beauty of those miniatures whether they are an original piece or a copy . The object is displayed as if viewed under a magnifying glass to the point where one cant reveal the scale of the object.
Read The full Article On Israeli Lens Magazine Issue#1
