toshiaki tomita

Heart Mountain / The 4th Story and Anecdotes

installation with painting by Soeren Bjoern, other paintings by Toshiaki Tomita (6 years old), MP3 player, head set, text, stones, rocks and rock tools. Solo Show at SPICA art, Tokyo. 2010.

As a sequel to HEART MOUNTAIN / The 3rd Story, HEART MOUNTAIN / The 4th Story and Anecdotes is realized.
4 months between 2 solo shows refers to the length of time experienced between the birth of the painting and the discovery of its meaning.

Since the 3rd story was Bjoern's remembrance of his painting, the 4th story is Tomita's journey with the painting, exploration to it. In the 4th story Tomita reports his discovery of a significant meaning, according to his life's journey, struggles, betrayals and salvation. Bjoern happily accepts Tomita's discovery of the meaning of the painting.

The painting never changed since it was painted 8 years ago but Bjoern and Tomita grew, that's how stories remain told, forgotten and restoried, and that's how a painting give us space and time to find new and significant meanings.

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Tomita split HEART MOUNTAIN / The 4th Story and Anecdotes into two periods.

The actual show followed the storytelling session.
Tomita restored the space from a cozy living room-like or a study-like to more "exhibition-like", so that let the audience get concentrated to the story of HEART MOUNTAIN and Bjoern's painting.

The setting of the space symbolizes how Tomita sees HEART MOUNTAIN. It is more like an universe of images attracted by the core image, or a constellation with a certain set of archetypal images.

4 secoundhand sofas represent the 4 dots which form [心] "heart" in Chinese character. The colors of the sofas and cushons were carefully taken from Bjoern's painting so that it makes sure that the audience can commit to Tomita's narrative by accutually sitting in the "heart" or the painting, rather than being an observer.

The line of the collection of rocks / rock tools shows Tomita's footprints of his journey in HEART MOUNTAIN, and also expands the sence of time from ancient hunter-gatherer sons and fathers in search of the image of the Sun rising from the cold mountain in their heart. Tomita hopes that the liine of rocks and rock tools to be a guide line to see his personal agony and salvation in a bigger picture in the times of no father.

The show allows the audience to almost meditatively look into the painting and listen to HEART MOUNTAIN / The 4th Story and Anecdotes.

photo: Toshiaki Tomita