“One Scene” is installed on the expansive Dublin Recreation Center wall that serves as a backdrop to the entryway pond. The cast bronze and poured glass artworks by Hiroshima, Japan-born sculptor Daisuke Shintani, are evocative of numerous tree leaves with vine branches. Shintani now lives in Allentown, Pa., and his work is exhibited and collected in Italy, Japan, Switzerland, France, Germany, Canada, Russia and the United States.
Shintani’s installations were brought to Dublin through Titration2: Park Fiction, the second phase of Dublin Arts Council’s on-loan outdoor sculpture exhibition series, which was installed in Dublin’s Coffman Park in 2008. The Park Fiction theme illustrates the whimsy and human connection to the outdoor recreational spaces in our midst. The exhibition was brought to life through four groupings, each ranging in size from three to more than 50 sculptural elements. “One Scene” was installed by the artist while he was suspended over the water on a window washing equipment platform.
The viewer of the artworks actually sees the reverse side of the leaf, which has been inverted through the casting process. The artist uses glass as a recording device – dumping it on an object where it freezes in shape, capturing the dramatic event in time. The result is pure composition in line and form, with the glass catching the light, refracting it and casting shadows. Shintani considers his artwork a trigger for people to see, to think deeply and to experience.