Chasing good fortune

Gersht, Ori (2011) Chasing good fortune. [Photography]

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Images

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1013:4011

Imperial Memories, Floating Petals

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1013:4012

Against the Tide, Isolated

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1013:4013

Tokyo Imperial Memories, Memorial Garden 3

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1013:4014

Hiroshima Sleepless Nights, Never Again 1

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1013:4015

Tokyo Imperial Memories, Night Fly 1

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1013:4016

Out of Time 2

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1013:4017

Tokyo Imperial Memories, Speck 3

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Details

Creators:

Gersht, Ori

Description/Abstract:

This output consists of images taken in Japan from April to May 2010. I travelled between cities that were affected by World War II, as well as to ancient locations in remote western Japan, examining the shifting symbolism of the cherry blossom. While initially associated with Buddhist concepts of renewal, the celebration of life and good fortune, the cherry blossom was re-appropriated during Japan's 19th-century militarization and colonial expansion. Once celebrated as a healthy and abundant flower, the falling of the petals from the tree became the symbol of Kamikaze soldiers. I develop this investigation of life and death symbolism in my exploration of trees planted before the war in unaffected remote areas, contrasting them with trees in Hiroshima that were planted in nuclear soil.

I made use of digital cameras that allowed for images to be taken under extreme light conditions, further questioning the ability of photography as a medium to convey a singular truth or story. Presenting documentation of what is assumed to be an exact location, my digital process allows for the absolute light and colour veracity of these landscapes to be questioned and by extension the viewer's interpretation of this location's history. Chasing Good Fortune offers imagery that conveys past and present without a specified linear narrative. My aim is to provide a meditation on the dialectics of life and death that are symbolically embedded in my photographic process as well as in the life cycle of the cherry blossom.

Item Type:

Art/Design Item

Date:

2011

Ori Gersht

Locations / Venues:

Location

From Date

To Date

Mid career Survey show, Museum Of Fine Art Boston, Boston, USA

28 August 2012

6 January 2013

This Storm is what We Call Progress, Imperial War Museum, London, UK

25 January 2012

29 April 2012

Survey of works between 2001-2011, Tel Aviv Museum of Contemporary Art, Israel

2012

Lost in Time, Santa Barbara Museum, Barbara Museum, CA, USA

20 May 2011

4 September 2011

Lost in Time 21c Museum, Kentucky USA

2011

Chasing Good Fortune & Will You Dance For Me, CRG Gallery New York, USA

6 May 2011

24 June 2011

Chasing Good Fortune & Will You Dance For Me, Angles Gallery Los Angeles, USA

21 May 2011

9 July 2011

Noga Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel

2011

Uncontrolled Keywords or tags :

Japan

Schools:

School of Fine Art, Crafts & Photography

Related URLs:

Depositing User:

Professor Ori Gersht

Date Deposited:

29 Feb 2012 06:42

Last Modified:

08 Mar 2018 16:15

Gersht, Ori

Art/Design Categories:

Photography

URI:

https://uca-9.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/1013

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