0:00:13.857,0:00:17.120 HIROSHI SUGIMOTO:[br]This is my studio in New York, 0:00:17.120,0:00:22.327 and I am on the 11th floor[br]facing north sky. 0:00:26.120,0:00:29.440 This is a very traditional[br]19th-century painters 0:00:29.440,0:00:30.857 studio in Paris. 0:00:32.204,0:00:35.440 And I... I'm not using[br]any artificial light here. 0:00:35.440,0:00:39.550 And all I do is this, you know,[br]shading up and down 0:00:40.320,0:00:42.318 and then[br]I can control the light. 0:00:46.920,0:00:49.360 To me, this system, 0:00:49.360,0:00:52.658 this method, still makes[br]the best quality picture. 0:00:52.658,0:00:57.760 Uh our, uh... we think[br]we keep making inventions 0:00:57.760,0:01:01.840 and makes tools as sophisticated[br]as possible, 0:01:01.840,0:01:05.320 but to me[br]contemporary people tend to... 0:01:05.320,0:01:08.000 tend to rely onto[br]the computer method 0:01:08.000,0:01:09.200 and all the machines. 0:01:09.200,0:01:12.960 That's not good enough. 0:01:12.960,0:01:15.067 You need something more[br]than that. 0:01:15.067,0:01:18.240 So this system,[br]it's very hard to control, 0:01:18.240,0:01:21.360 but it still makes[br]the best picture. 0:01:21.360,0:01:24.120 So I'm against[br]a kind of evolution, you know, 0:01:24.120,0:01:24.904 this is... 0:01:24.904,0:01:26.348 [ laughing ] 0:01:26.348,0:01:29.189 I am sticking to[br]the traditional method. 0:01:30.690,0:01:33.465 [ machine beeping ] 0:01:34.120,0:01:36.809 I am very craft-oriented person. 0:01:37.984,0:01:39.480 But at the same time, 0:01:39.480,0:01:43.103 I want to make[br]something artistic. 0:01:46.800,0:01:51.442 The fossils works almost[br]the same as photography. 0:01:54.600,0:01:58.608 To me, photography functions[br]as a fossilization of the time. 0:01:58.608,0:02:00.950 [ liquid dripping ] 0:02:09.480,0:02:12.249 How my architectural series[br]started, 0:02:12.364,0:02:17.161 I visited so many early[br]20th-century architecture. 0:02:19.280,0:02:20.840 They are all famous. 0:02:20.840,0:02:22.720 They look so beautiful[br]in the book, 0:02:22.720,0:02:24.751 but if you actually go there, 0:02:24.751,0:02:27.943 it's 60, 70, 80 years old. 0:02:28.444,0:02:31.837 They are, most of them,[br]in very bad conditions. 0:02:33.069,0:02:38.662 To make them out-of-focus picture, [br]all the wrinkles disappeared. 0:02:45.440,0:02:48.200 Stillness, well,[br]that's something 0:02:49.280,0:02:53.720 I'm not intentionally,[br]you know, promoting it, 0:02:53.720,0:02:56.080 but most of the people sees it 0:02:56.080,0:03:01.107 and it's very quiet and serene. 0:03:03.206,0:03:04.960 Uh seascapes case, 0:03:04.960,0:03:07.960 my subject matter is[br]water and air. 0:03:07.960,0:03:09.992 That's the kind of... 0:03:09.992,0:03:13.393 most kind of abstract theme. 0:03:18.380,0:03:21.765 I find a spot[br]that I want to stay, 0:03:22.208,0:03:23.538 and I stay there 0:03:23.538,0:03:25.677 maybe sometimes one week, 0:03:25.677,0:03:28.107 sometimes a couple weeks,[br]two, three weeks. 0:03:29.069,0:03:35.337 And then I just stay there, and just feel like[br]I'm a part of this, you know, nature and landscape. 0:03:39.400,0:03:43.080 So far, I visited[br]so many different seas, 0:03:43.080,0:03:45.280 but I never be on the boat. 0:03:45.280,0:03:47.241 I have to be on the ground. 0:03:51.400,0:03:55.080 I start feeling this is[br]the creation of the universe 0:03:55.080,0:03:57.082 and I'm witnessing it. 0:04:03.920,0:04:08.230 Well, this is my miniature[br]seascapes, Day and Night. 0:04:08.384,0:04:12.400 And I wind this up[br]and it shakes. 0:04:12.400,0:04:17.160 So this is my, you know,[br]famous Japanese earthquake. 0:04:17.160,0:04:19.507 Shall I do it here? 0:04:23.224,0:04:23.790 Whoa. 0:04:35.680,0:04:39.340 Well, this is one of[br]my fossil collection, 0:04:40.880,0:04:44.701 450 million years old. 0:04:45.760,0:04:47.880 And in this cabinet... 0:04:47.880,0:04:50.320 I call this cabinet[br]as my Shinto shrine, 0:04:50.320,0:04:52.160 portable Shinto shrine. 0:04:52.160,0:04:55.000 I have this mirror here 0:04:55.000,0:04:58.200 and, well, the Japanese[br]Shinto shrine, 0:04:58.200,0:05:00.040 they always keep the mirror[br]inside, 0:05:00.040,0:05:04.807 that's probably the reflection[br]of the old memory, ancestors. 0:05:04.807,0:05:07.237 And, you know, this is... 0:05:07.680,0:05:09.880 I'm worshiping our ancestors. 0:05:09.880,0:05:13.360 This is the earliest stage of[br]the life formation in the world. 0:05:13.360,0:05:16.226 So this is what I have[br]to pay respect. 0:05:17.920,0:05:21.400 Two years ago,[br]I was commissioned to build 0:05:21.400,0:05:23.369 a Shinto shrine in Japan. 0:05:24.640,0:05:26.680 You know,[br]it's a religious institution 0:05:26.680,0:05:28.440 and it's still active, 0:05:28.440,0:05:32.804 but the building itself,[br]it's so old and deteriorated so 0:05:33.247,0:05:37.603 I was commissioned[br]to rebuild this Shinto shrine. 0:05:44.400,0:05:47.840 So this is exactly 30 years 0:05:47.840,0:05:50.600 since I first came to see[br]this Large Glass, 0:05:50.600,0:05:52.820 to see this Duchamp piece. 0:05:54.649,0:05:56.600 Actually that was the year 0:05:56.600,0:06:01.201 I came to New York[br]from California, after spending 0:06:01.605,0:06:04.757 three years in[br]California as an art student. 0:06:05.000,0:06:06.660 And... 0:06:07.488,0:06:09.440 that was[br]the first things I did, 0:06:09.440,0:06:12.480 make a short trip[br]from New York to Philadelphia 0:06:12.480,0:06:14.477 to see this Duchamp piece. 0:06:24.200,0:06:26.479 It seems strong and important. 0:06:32.000,0:06:35.000 The way you read it[br]is your own creation. 0:06:40.960,0:06:45.280 He is kind of stimulating[br]a kind of very abstract thinking 0:06:45.280,0:06:47.734 of the kind of metaphors. 0:06:48.284,0:06:51.998 So there's no one answer[br]to describe this, you know. 0:06:57.544,0:07:01.040 Well, this is the miniature[br]which I made. 0:07:01.040,0:07:04.160 This was actually photographed[br]in Tokyo, 0:07:04.160,0:07:08.600 and what I photographed was[br]the replica of The Large Glass. 0:07:08.600,0:07:10.080 I use eight-by-ten camera. 0:07:10.080,0:07:12.800 This is the original[br]negative here 0:07:12.800,0:07:16.960 sandwiched between[br]the two thick glass like this. 0:07:16.960,0:07:19.680 And then this side is[br]the positive actually, 0:07:19.680,0:07:23.388 the contact print[br]from the other side, negative. 0:07:23.600,0:07:27.600 I wasn't so aware[br]of Duchamp's influence, but... 0:07:28.813,0:07:33.275 but after reaching[br]at my age now, I... 0:07:33.275,0:07:36.320 I feel very strongly[br]how... how much 0:07:36.320,0:07:37.843 effect that he did affect 0:07:37.843,0:07:41.994 on my career in art. 0:07:42.937,0:07:47.612 What I'm working on now[br]is my show at the Cartier Foundation[br]in Paris. 0:07:48.440,0:07:51.000 The Cartier Foundation,[br]it's a glass box, 0:07:51.000,0:07:52.769 it's a huge glass box. 0:07:54.040,0:07:57.520 I'm presenting[br]a three-dimensional Duchamp 0:07:57.520,0:08:02.171 Large Glass presentation[br]in my way of presentation. 0:08:04.000,0:08:05.833 This is the bachelor section. 0:08:08.240,0:08:09.776 And this is the bride section. 0:08:21.040,0:08:24.800 This is each nine figures[br]as a bachelor 0:08:24.800,0:08:26.480 that's being represented 0:08:26.480,0:08:29.484 as more like[br]a machine-like figure. 0:08:29.484,0:08:31.985 That's why I'm related[br]to this 0:08:32.293,0:08:34.900 collection of my machine photographs. 0:08:42.160,0:08:45.520 The machine models were[br]19th century. 0:08:45.520,0:08:47.172 They served to demonstrate 0:08:47.172,0:08:51.275 the very basic machine movement[br]for the student. 0:08:56.320,0:08:59.440 We are getting into[br]this upper part of the section 0:09:00.280,0:09:02.520 called the "bride section." 0:09:02.520,0:09:05.720 So this is...[br]there's supposed to be a bride 0:09:05.720,0:09:09.078 with this very interesting 0:09:09.078,0:09:12.293 formation of cloud-like shapes. 0:09:12.293,0:09:14.959 That's kind of feminine to me, so 0:09:14.959,0:09:20.900 I decided to compare with my [br]mathematical forms, like this. 0:09:20.900,0:09:26.175 This was made to be... to show a student[br]what's the mathematics, 0:09:26.175,0:09:31.040 you know, three-dimensional[br]mathematic theories can be seen 0:09:31.040,0:09:33.740 in actual[br]three-dimensional models. 0:09:36.320,0:09:38.760 I was very bad in mathematics 0:09:38.760,0:09:40.640 when I was[br]a high school student. 0:09:40.640,0:09:45.960 I loved physics, but my lack of[br]understanding of mathematics 0:09:45.960,0:09:49.440 made me think that[br]I am not the proper person 0:09:49.440,0:09:51.324 to get into physics. 0:09:54.000,0:09:57.400 You know, I found that[br]I'm quite a visual person; 0:09:57.400,0:10:01.165 I have to confirm everything[br]by my eye. 0:10:03.880,0:10:07.340 So I became more like[br]a visual artist. 0:10:11.884,0:10:15.000 Every museum show,[br]I try to design the space. 0:10:15.000,0:10:16.729 It's very important. 0:10:18.520,0:10:20.760 It's not just[br]a photography show. 0:10:20.760,0:10:23.810 It's more like[br]I'm designing the space. 0:10:27.680,0:10:29.047 It's just a... 0:10:29.317,0:10:31.128 like a space sculpture, like. 0:10:34.440,0:10:38.080 I want people to get puzzled[br]first, you know. 0:10:38.080,0:10:40.360 As people walk in, the first... 0:10:40.360,0:10:45.184 probably people may think this[br]is a minimalist sculpture show. 0:10:46.840,0:10:51.200 And then came all the way[br]into the space and came back 0:10:51.200,0:10:54.711 and all of a sudden[br]this is a photography show. 0:10:55.000,0:10:57.120 So people pay only[br]one admission 0:10:57.120,0:10:59.683 and get to see two different[br]kind of show. 0:11:00.320,0:11:02.739 It's... very heavily discounted. 0:11:16.044,0:11:20.847 I have so many ideas being[br]cooked in my brain 0:11:20.924,0:11:24.159 and they seem like[br]all impossible. 0:11:24.505,0:11:26.417 But sometimes it's... 0:11:26.706,0:11:28.720 it becomes reality. 0:11:31.160,0:11:35.363 So this is through my[br]translation of my visual, 0:11:35.363,0:11:39.780 like, visual understanding[br]of how... how I see things. 0:11:51.680,0:11:54.680 And then make...[br]make imagination possible 0:11:54.680,0:11:57.320 to be able to show to everybody 0:11:57.320,0:12:00.555 that's the task of artist,[br]I think.