27.09.02 - 19.10.02

Studio 12

Masato Takasaka

For his Studio 12 exhibition, Masato Takasaka presented works on paper reminiscent of constructivist abstraction, whilst also recalling the graphic conventions of Japanese consumer packaging and product design. Participating in the longstanding lineage of geometric and formalist abstraction in Melbourne, Takasaka’s interest in the language of commercial and graphic art equally returns viewers to the real world and social space of advertising, consumption and the circulation of signs and products.

M.A.P. (Method Abstract Plastic) Masato Takasaka and Justin Andrews Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces, Melbourne 21.11.03 – 13.12.03

MT (Masato Takasaka): For me, the focus of this project was on the translation of a two-dimensional image (Justin’s painting) into one of my sculptures...

and it was interesting to see how Justin would interpret my translation back into a painting again... We both work in a vocabulary of geometric abstraction. We are able to work with ‘speaking’ the same language... although our approaches and methodologies are quite different. For instance, Justin takes a very technical approach to the making of his paintings and the masking of each area... a painstakingly time- consuming approach... but in the end you get these hard edges and the way he uses paint ends up looking like computer-cut vinyl or something...

My approach to things is to try and keep as much of the visible hand-made ‘dodginess’ as possible... by cutting the foamcore the wrong way you end up getting these really burred edges... I guess I like the look of this anti-technical way of making. I can’t be bothered doing it properly anyway. I tend to make my sculptures very quickly because they rely on an improvised process of making...

In the end, both Justin’s approach and mine are quite different, yet the value in the ‘making’ of the work is still really high. Having the chance to study the planes and forms that make up each composition in Justin’s paintings is challenging to try and build on sculpturally. Curious as it may be, the work is starting to look like models of contemporary art museums... maybe I’m looking at too many glossy architecture mags...