Title
STROKE-ON THE ROAD IN HIROSHIMA, AUGUST 1987/88
Artist
Masao OKABE
Year
1987-1988
Material
pencil on paper

Work Description

The seven blackened sheets of paper in this work were created by making rubbings with a pencil of seven road surfaces on the way from Danbara, a district of Hiroshima City that survived the atomic bombing, to Honkawa-cho, the hypocenter of the blast. This technique, known as frottage, has characterized Okabe’s work since the late 1970s. For the artist, preserving vestiges of a place through rubbings means capturing the memory and history of that city. At the same time, the work is an accumulation of countless pencil strokes, which convey his feat of facing the ground of Hiroshima over a long period of time under the scorching August sun.

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