Rui Sasaki

My work is about the exploration and discovery of subtle intimacy in unfamiliar and familiar spaces: what I refer to as empty space. When I moved from Japan to the US in 2007 I experienced the sensation of lost memories, nostalgia and loss of home.

Subtle intimacy in empty space

The uncanny is associated with the bringing to light of what was hidden and secret, distinguishing the uncanny from the simply fearful by defining it as that class of the terrifying which leads us back to something long known to us, once very familiar.

— Sigmund Freud, The Uncanny (1919) 

My work is about the exploration and discovery of subtle intimacy in unfamiliar and familiar spaces: what I refer to as empty space. When I moved from Japan to the US in 2007 I experienced the sensation of lost memories, nostalgia and loss of home. Upon my return to Japan five years later, I felt extreme emptiness towards the sense of home; a reverse culture shock. Home is the only space where I can feel intimacy. How can I discover the subtle intimacy in unfamiliar spaces? How did I lose the familiar spaces of the past? Within the unfamiliar and familiar space of the uncanny, I challenge the fissure between what can be known and what is unknowable, and what resists clear delineations of intimacy.

In search of intimacy through unfamiliar spaces I seek out spatial compositions within spaces; basements, forgotten corners, as well as remnants of the unfamiliar - abandoned dust, within those spaces. In exploration of intimacy through familiar spaces I analyze my surroundings, such as plants and sunshine. The examinations let me reminisce the residue of intimacy in the familiar spaces where I lost the feeling of home. My main investigation is using glass as the vehicle of preservation and recording of the relationship between my body and surroundings. I have used my body as performance, utilizing video and photography as a means of documentations.

I focus on the moment when I discover “who I am” in empty space. Freud said, ”It may be true that the uncanny is nothing else than a hidden, familiar thing that has undergone repression and then emerged from it.” In my work, the uncanny becomes an important tool to help me recall my authentic memories from hidden and forgotten ones.

For me home creates a specific relationship between body and space: a relationship of intimacy and memories. Japan is my “home”, but the term does not describe the same qualities after my return from the States. How did I lose my intimacy in Japan? Do I need this space to feel at home? If so, is there a minimum amount that can be defined? These questions have led me to my artistic explanations of empty space. Moreover, what is my intimacy built upon? If space is immaterial, then what are the elements that are important for me to feel intimacy?

Experiencing reverse culture shock led me to research nomadic concepts of intimacy in space and meaning of home. Making work in a new environment is vital for me. Wandering is a part of my work to achieve the definition of intimacy in empty space and intimacy without space. Through my work I document the intimacy and memory of the home.