Origins Project

Trip to Liverpool Biennial

  As part of our first brief 'Journeys', we took a trip to the Liverpool Biennial. This is a huge exhibition of art, placed in different locations all over Liverpool. The first gallery i visited was the 'Open Eye Gallery', where i had never been before. The gallery only featured two exhibitions, one by Kohei Yoshiyuki and another by Mark Morrisroe. 
When walking into the glass building, the first piece i saw was 'Love Hotel' by Kohei Yoshiyuki. Which is photographs of CCTV images from a pay-by-the-hour hotel. The pictures feature couples engaging in sexual activity. Which are in turn shown on televisions. I found my self drawn into this first piece. The graininess of the pictures made it near impossible to see what was really happening, the only thing visible was the outlines of the bodies, 
almost like shadows. 

The second piece of Kohei Yoshiyuki work i saw was called 'The Park'. This was an exhibition with a twist, something i have never experienced before. We were taken into a completely pitch black room, only a few people at a time and given a small torch. 

The pictures were all on the walls, using the light to see what they were. The pictures, again, featured couples 


engaging in sexual activity, this time there were spectators, watching and joining in. This captured the unseen activities that happen at night. The idea of having a torch with you to view the pictures, made it feel like you are just discovering these people, almost like you part of the spectating. I instantly, just like the 'Love Hotel' piece, felt drawn to these pictures. They are very raw pictures of things that you don't realise happen. 
After researching about this piece of work, I found that this underground society was stumbled upon accidentally by Kohei Yoshiyuki, which in turn he  started visiting more often and became a spectator himself, giving him the chance to capture these raw photographs. 
The journey aspect i took from this piece was the fact that Kohei Yoshiyuki stumbled across this hidden side of the park, by taking a journey. This shows that any journey could lead to something unexpected, as if no journey can be determined.