Kei Ito: Each Tolling Sun

108 unique chromogenic contact prints made with sunlight and hammered steel disc

The photographs, video documentation of a performance, sledge hammer and crumpled steel disc combine to create a complete work of art. How does it feel to move through this space?

Kei Ito is a visual artist working primarily with camera-less photography and installation art. Currently teaching at the International Center for Photography in New York City, Ito earned his BFA from Rochester Institute of Technology and his MFA from Maryland Institute College of Art.

Some of Ito’s most noteworthy accomplishments include residencies at the Studio at MASS MoCA, the Dennis Roussel Fellowship at the Center for Fine Art Photography, and the Center for Photography at Woodstock. His bibliography includes reviews and articles published by the Washington Post, Hyperallergic, ArtMaze Magazine, and others. Additionally, his works reside in the permanent collections of the Museum of Contemporary Photography, the Norton Museum of Art, Chroma at the California Institute of Integral Studies, and the Eskenazi Museum of Art.

Single channel video, two channel audio, 1:36:31

Why do you think this video plays in reverse?

Are there things you wish you could undo?

8 LB sledge hammer used in performance to strike steel disc 108 times

16 gauge A36 steel disc struck by sledge hammer in performance (16” diameter)

Have you ever used a movement or ritual to help you process an emotion?

The heat from the explosion over Hiroshima was so intense that it bleached everything in its blast zone, leaving nuclear shadows (see above). The amount of radiation released at ground zero was equivalent to 1,550,000 chest x-rays. Kei Ito’s approach to making contact prints using the sun’s radiation is similar in concept to the silhouettes left by people’s bodies and other objects in Hiroshima.

What can you tell about the person pictured above based on their silhouette? This person’s silhouette was eventually relocated and persevered at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.

Unique chromogenic photogram (Sunlight), 150’ x 30”