2017.105 Katsuhiro Goto

Title
The week ( a fossil time )     

Location
Cowra Sculpture Park 

Year
2003

Media
Sculpture

Medium
stone and paint

Credit
Gift of the artist and Cowra Japanese Garden and Cultural Centre 2017

Accession number
2017.105

With an interest in the containment and passing of time, Gotō uses ash-pressed ōya stone quarried in central Japan alongside Cowra granite in this methodical interpretation of a single week. The faces of each stone block contain carved and painted Kanji characters corresponding to the Five Phases (fire, water, wood, metal, earth) but it is the playful and cryptic assemblage of the pieces that brings intrigue to the work. Gotō’s unique spatial and temporal logic is demonstrated through the concealment and obscuring of the characters within the column of blocks and through the intentional placement of six blocks along the ground. On the flanking boulders of Cowra granite is a simple poem assigning actions and qualities to each day of the week, an ambiguous key to the sculpture’s symbolic meaning.