“Rapt!”
Shiro Takatani and Ryoko Aoki and Zon Ito
29 Sept → 21 Oct 2006

Rapt! is a program of exhibitions, residencies and public events showcasing contemporary Japanese art in Australia.

At West Space, Rapt! presents new work by Kyoto based artists Shiro Takatani and the collaborative Zon Ito and Ryoko Aoki.

Takatani presents two installations incorporating video, sound, fibre optics, and light. Both are acclaimed existing works, though he will be updating Camera Lucida, an intimate piece using fibre optics to explore the micro building blocks of nature, while on residencies in Perth and Melbourne.

Ito and Aoki's collaborative work maps a psychedelic journey of transformation. Described as a ‘visual funhouse’, their collaborative animations explore the subconscious and physical relationships between the mind, body and the universe that bind us together.

Developed by the Japan Foundation in the Australia-Japan Year of Exchange, it is based on cross-cultural research and discussions by Japanese curators, Shihoko Iida, Fumihiko Sumitomo and Yukihiro Hirayoshi, and an Australian curatorial advisory group led by Philip Brophy, Max Delany, Stuart Koop and Kathryn Hunyor.

Rapt! is the largest collaborative arts project ever undertaken in Australia involving twenty organisations in developing different facets of the one project.