"Following the other, one replaces him, exchanges lives, passions, wills, transforms oneself in the other's stead. It is perhaps the only way man can finally fulfill himself. An ironic way, but all the more certain."
This quotation from Jean Baudrillard's 1983 essay "Please Follow Me" is currently being displayed in the main corridor of the Hara Museum of Contem- porary Art. It's an indication that Baudrillard's writings, in particular his meditations on hyperreality and imagery, informs the work of Masaharu Sato, whose solo exhibition — "Tokyo Trace" — runs at the museum until early May this year.
The exhibition consists of two main bodies of work — the projected "Calling" animations in Gallery I and the "Tokyo Trace" videos in Gallery II — both of which use video footage that has been re-drawn and digitally animated. Each image retains a photographic base while certain areas are transformed into detailed cartoons.