Do our aesthetic principles and societal constructs create personal serenity or isolation?

Much like his first minted artwork on Async, Tony Corocher’s “The Soul of Japan: Profound Tranquility or Modern Loneliness?” explores universal philosophical questions and ideologies through Japanese culture over the course of 2 years while he was there. Using a collection of over 18 different photographs, the piece evolves into 216 different unique configurations, allowing viewers to experience and explore the artwork over time.

It was over the course of 2 years that Tony became enamoured by Japanese culture. This new artwork (as well as the previous one and the others released this year) all fall into the concept of WabiSabi, or the ideology that asymmetry and imperfection is actually more beautiful than perfection, that prompted him to photograph almost symmetrical scenes penetrated by small imperfections (which still relates to WabiSabi). The difference is that with this latest piece, what started as landscapes of mountains, rivers, and lakes grew into cityscapes, people, and buildings. And that's where he noticed a repeating pattern.

“This artwork is presenting and describing a feeling of detachment and “self inflicted” loneliness,” says Tony. “This may seem very strange to someone traveling to this beautiful country for the first time, but it is a feeling that can be encountered all over the country. It is felt more strongly in the big cities, especially on the streets of Tokyo: a feeling that deeply entangles and mixes with a secular way of life.”

On the outside, Japan’s value system of respect, duty, and obligation was achieving a sense of harmony and tranquility within society. But Tony began to notice that this value system also bred isolation and a feeling of being alone.

18 high-quality street photography shots embody what Tony experienced, from scenes of human interactions to serene nature scenes. The images, though separated to form another triptych, flow seamlessly into one another to create a surreal wash of human experience and aesthetic. 

“The Soul Of Japan” consists of one Master and 3 Layers which are bundled together, meaning the buyer who purchases the piece will purchase both the Master and Layers.

The buyer will also receive a Museum Quality Fine Art Giclèe Print (70x40 cm) by selecting his/her favorite 3 Layer configurations. Using carbon pigmented inks on Hahnemühle Archival Paper of the highest quality, this will be a 1 of 1 Fine Art Print and a collectors item (with holograms, date, signature and stamps) in line with Tony’s 10 years of selling museum quality prints. 

You can find more info about Tony’s Fine Art Prints process here: https://www.tonycorocher.com/ fine-art-prints/

For more information about the artist, follow him on Twitter and join our Discord to inquire about the piece. If interested you can test and play around with the Master by triggering changes to the Layers at this link.