Sugai Ken
UkabazUmorezU (不浮不埋)

熱田御修覆

磨ぎなほす

鏡も清し

雪の花

(松尾 芭蕉)

At the newly restored Atsuta Shrine.

Just polished,

clear is the mirror:

snow flowers.

(Matsuo Bashō)

In the transparency of rice paper and the reduplication of the mirror, we find exemplified the coordinates of this indescribable work by Sugai Ken [スガイ ケン], a young leader of the neo-Japonica scene. Skillfully balancing environmental samples, rhythmic cadences, concrete music noises from distinctly xylophonic instruments, and a distinctly Japanese sense of time, the neo-Japanese manages to make an oxymoron audible: that of a-rhythmic rhythm; of opaque transparency; of analog-synthetic sound.