Nezu Gallery Maruhi
“Nezu Gallery Maruhi” is a gallery facing a narrow alley a short walk from Nezu Station. Created by renovating a traditional storehouse (kura), it is a gallery full of atmosphere. Hearing that Mami Hirano’s first solo exhibition was being held there, I paid a visit.
Mami Hirano “Reviving Unicorn”
“Reviving Unicorn” is a project that brings the unicorn — a nonexistent creature — into existence and resuscitates it. By fabricating every part that makes up the body, such as bones, internal organs, and muscles, she draws it closer to actual existence; and by connecting a ventilator to the lungs she has made and letting it breathe, she brings it back to life.
In the past, Mami Hirano has a track record of similarly reconstituting her own former pet, a dog.
The gallery also displayed the work in which she had reconstituted that beloved dog.
However, even though it is a work of resuscitation, whether one regards this state as “resuscitation” also depends on the viewer’s own awareness — it is a situation that forces a rather difficult judgment.
The Unicorn
Since the unicorn work is an imaginary creature, Hirano seems to have defined it according to her own original interpretation.
She properly follows the procedure of building it up from the bones, then creating the muscles, skin, and so on in order.
It reportedly took as long as three years to make — quite a painstaking undertaking, it seems. Indeed, when you observe it closely, it is realistically made. It has a reality that looks as though it might truly begin to move.
The internal organs were reportedly made from urethane that turns gel-like when it sets.
On this day, as a “public maintenance” event, Hirano herself carried out maintenance on the various parts within the gallery.
Blood, too, circulates through the unicorn’s body by means of a pump. She reportedly uses stage blood, and the internal organs are said to be made from items used as film props.
Look closely, and it has a divine, sublime face.
Talk Show
In the middle of the maintenance, an impromptu talk show was held.
Using slides, we heard about her original intent behind the work and about Hirano herself. Listening to the talk while seated on tatami made for a rather interesting event.
Through the slides, we were also able to hear behind-the-scenes stories of the making.
There is biological death, of course, but she says there is also the death of a work (as material). Even a work made from all sorts of ingredients cannot be said to exist as a work for all eternity — that was her point.
So, is this really art?
Along the way, my thoughts even reached a point where I was no longer quite sure.
Unfazed by my agitation, Hirano’s manner as she calmly translated her own thoughts into words was that of a self-assured child of the modern age — an artist who holds to her aim and conviction without wavering.
Mami Hirano
Born in Gifu Prefecture in 1989.
2012
Graduated from the Information Design Course, Department of Art and Design, Faculty of Art and Design, Nagoya Zokei University of Art & Design
2014
Completed the Master’s Program, Department of Intermedia Art, Graduate School of Fine Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts
