Published to coincide with a major exhibition of Fujiwara’s work at Tate St Ives, this text is closer to an artist’s book than a conventional exhibition catalogue. With the appearance of a desk diary, the sort that wouldn’t be out of place in Edina Monsoon’s office, 1982 features novels, theatre plays, lectures and installations.
In a move that is refreshingly unlike the typical text you might find in a gallery bookshop, Fujiwara’s selection of fictional curiosities gives valuable insight into the young British/Japanese artist’s motivations. Particularly joyful is the reproduction of The Mirror Stage, Fujiwara’s 2009-12 performance and installation that dramatises the artist’s adolescent encounter with a Patrick Heron painting at Tate St Ives in 1993.
For the traditionalists out there, this step away from convention is sugar coated by the “supplement” in the back of the book – a shorter version of the traditional exhibition catalogue complete with an “In Conversation” between the artist and Martin Clark. Such a move does dampen the revolutionary spirit of the publication slightly.
Florence Wright
