concept & curation
yokosuka, jp
2019
In July of 2019, Ken Farmer and Caroline Maxwell were invited to join the curatorial team for Sense Island, a month-long exhibition on a deserted island in Japan. The process included developing the curatorial framework for the exhibition, enlisting international artists, and working in collaboration with local communities to create site-specific interventions.
CURATORIAL STATEMENT
“Hyper consumption & sensory overload have collided with our innate drive to empathize, connect & reflect.
How can we rejuvenate our senses to see clearly again?
An ever-accelerating cultural metabolism has yielded a society pacified by the superficial moment & increasingly void of restorative meditation. Capitalistic short-sightedness, echo chambers of thought, superficial trends & digital inundation have clouded our senses. As the unchecked growth of human civilization continues to outpace all other life on earth, we have become alienated from our roots and lost touch with the gifts and lessons of nature. At Sense Island, we invite you to take a breath, connect with your surroundings & see the island as the artist. Sense Island offers a vessel to step outside the constructed world to revitalize trust in our most fundamental senses. The island asks you to investigate the sensorium, see with renewed vision & together, begin to repair the relationship between humanity & the natural world.
We have had the privilege to work closely with Sarushima, a sacred and historic island located in the Tokyo Bay. Through deep engagement with the environment, we have crafted a series of subtle interactions that amplify exploration and discovery. These moments of reflection provoke a lasting resonance through poetic dialogue & provide a model for a more compassionate ecology.
Sense Island imagines a day when humanity and nature can once again achieve harmony.”
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