Aoki’s Four Frames: Ethereal, Elegant

by Nick Stillman
12/15/00
Not many student art shows make as strong a first impression on the viewer’s mood as senior Kyoko Aoki’s Four Frames. Aoki transforms the space into one of ethereal moody elegance, creating a quietly powerful atmosphere that makes the viewer lower his or her voice to a whisper and become absorbed within the meditative sensation Aoki’s installation induces. She succeeds in creating the serene mood through her subtle use of dim lighting, giving the exhibit a refreshingly atmospheric aspect. 
Three of the pieces are suspended by thin wiring, which is rendered nearly invisible by the soft lighting, creating the sensation that some of the components of her pieces are floating. Aoki uses small white and red lightbulbs to illuminate these same three pieces. While much contemporary art explores the expressive qualities of flamboyantly loud color, the subdued white and red lighting Aoki employs radiates a quiet emotive profundity. 
The first piece the viewer encounters is a suspended rectangle of plexi-glass, adorned with small three-dimensional squares constructed from thin tissue paper and toothpicks. The dim white lighting Aoki uses to illuminate the piece creates an eerie visual effect — the viewer is unable to discern which side of the transparent field the objects are actually on. 
The viewer ultimately becomes a part of the piece and is forced to address the phenomenon of the “other side” — although one can see through to the other side, a transparent barrier prevents entry into it. The other side Aoki constructs appears eminently more appealing, as the squares are arranged neatly in front of the infinitely white backdrop. 
Aoki uses a dim red bulb to light another piece, suspending it between two pieces of painted paper, meticulously cut into an array of hard-edged shapes resembling converging shards of glass. The red light projects these suspended objects onto two flanking pieces of white paper, which serve as screens. The projections of the original objects are obscured and softened, ultimately creating a new image, forcing the viewer to confront the duality and decide which is “real.” 
Another piece displays four hanging objects against blank white walls. Three of the objects are complex diagrams, resembling microchips. Only one of the diagrams includes text, as “Carry in” and “Carry out” inconspicuously appear at the top and bottom, making the viewer reflect on the complexity and confusion of 21st century labor. 
The centerpiece of this piece is a rough, rectangular frame with small squares, bound by pins, projecting out into space. Aoki uses a white light for this piece, again creating a bold shadow behind the projected objects. The squares decrease in size from top to bottom, converge wildly in the middle and become sparse at the bottom, potentially allegorical for a life cycle. 
What this piece lacks in dynamic motion, the dramatic piece on the north side of Fisher makes up for. Aoki has suspended eight large sheets of paper across the thin hall, creating shapes all composed of right angles, recalling the harmony and unified balance of Theo van Doseburg’s dynamic de Stijl work. A lone white bulb illuminates the sheets from the center, causing dramatic reflections to cascade along the walls. One feels a dizzying sense of motion upon entering the hall, accentuated by the surprising revelation that the viewer’s shadow is incorporated as an integral part of the piece. 
Aoki’s installations exude a quiet stately power, felt most intensely in this piece. Light is clearly an essential element in her work and while it would be presumptuous to conclude the soft illumination of her pieces is a reference to her Japanese heritage, it does recall Asian urban and interior lighting. 

The cleverness of Aoki’s work lies in her ability to construct dualities through the creation of boundaries or frames. The viewer is constantly presented with an “other side,” causing a significant amount of social self-reflection, as Aoki’s pieces so consistently include the viewer. 
While this is the ideological strength in Aoki’s work, her foremost formal strength is her ability to create an atmosphere conducive to reflection and meditation through her powerful use of light and shadow. It is this subtle elegance that makes Aoki’s delicately ethereal pieces so vigorously exciting.