Tatsuo Miyajima
Time Ring, 2009
18kt red gold with green L.E.D.
18kt yellow gold with blue L.E.D.
18kt white gold with white L.E.D.
4.3 x 3.9 x 3.9 cm – include two batteries
Edition of 10 each color variation
Signed and numbered
Tatsuo Miyajima is one of Japan’s foremost sculptors and installation artists. His work has origins in the philosophy of Buddhism that conceives everything to be in continuous change, connected and lasting forever. The three leitmotivs are effectively expressed in his art through the recurrent reference to time in its perpetual flow.
‘My art relates to time and history, life and death, mind and soul and in particular to human existence. All good arts relate to thoughts about human existence.’ Tatsuo Miyajima
Miyajima’s art is characterized by the combination of ever-changing numbers and digital light-emitting diodes (LED). Time Ring, the project in collaboration with Elisabetta Cipriani, perfectly encapsulates this binomial as well as the philosophy of his art. The rings, made in yellow, white or rose gold, present a LED digit display that works as a counter. Numbers are constantly flowing from 1 to 9 or vice versa representing the endless cycle of life. The zero is identified as the symbol of nothing and stillness and, therefore, it remains omitted on purpose. The counting speed ranges from 1 second to 5 minutes and it can be customised by the owner to reflect their feelings about the pace at which their life is flowing.