Masaharu Sato – Tokyo Trace

Launched back in 1992 to promote the work of up-and-coming curators and artists, the Hara Museum's Documents series has now reached its tenth instalment. This time around, the featured artist is Oita-born Masaharu Sato, whose method of choice is the time-consuming one of 'tracing' animation. This process involves recreating hundreds of frames of video by drawing over each one by hand, and then assembling the frames to form immensely realistic-looking animated videos. Here, Sato displays 'Calling', a two-part piece documenting everyday scenes in both Germany and Japan, and 'Tokyo Trace', his latest work, which turns the focus to the rapid changes this city is undergoing in the run-up to the 2020 Olympics. In addition to the moving images, the exhibition also includes still pieces created with the same fascinating method.