Texture Mapping: Pine Breeze Villa

Texture Mapping: Pine Breeze Villa is a multimedia art installation by Shofuso’s artist in residence Aaron Mannino. Through film, photography, live performance, and social media works, Mannino explores the tactile relationships between seemingly disparate places, objects, cultures, and times, as centered around Shofuso. Pine Breeze Villa, the centerpiece of Texture Mapping, is a short film which explores the complex physical nature of a place that exists (Shofuso House and Garden), a place that no longer exists (the Niomon Gate, which burnt in 1955 at the site of Shofuso), and a place that is disappearing (the recently demolished Boyd Theater) – each of which are indelibly Philadelphian.

About The Artist:
Aaron (Éireann) Mannino is a multimedia artist living and working in the Greater Philadelphia area. They hold a Bachelors of Fine Arts from Tyler School of Art in Printmaking. From 2011 to the present, they been working closely with the historic Shofuso Japanese House and Garden in Fairmount Park. Shofuso awarded Aaron Mannino their first ever Artist In Residence in 2012, reviewed here by Philadlephia Weekly. This relationship has resulted in numerous public site-specific installations, and Shofuso continues to be at the heart of Aaron Mannino’s ideation.

Through such connections to Japanese culture and traditions made possible by numerous institutions and events throughout the Greater Philadelphia area, Aaron’s work explores points of collapse and draws attention to the power that liminal / ephemeral spaces / moments can have. In film, Aaron pursues collage and texture-driven “narratives” that warp time, space, history and memory.

Most recently, Mannino has conducted a self-directed Artist In Residence in Kanazawa City (Ishikawa Prefecture Japan) resulting in upcoming works of analog instant photography, video and sound. This was followed by a formal AIR in Tonami City (Toyama Prefecture, Japan) which codified their artistic practice. Mannino is currently Shofuso’s 2018 Artist in Residence, conducting the Texture Mapping process here on their home turf and at the epicenter of their inspiration.

Inspired by Shofuso’s unique presence in Philadelphia, Mannino’s attention is drawn to the possibility of intercultural exchange and transmission through the senses vs. intellect, and the capacity for understanding when the concept of linear time has been dismantled through juxtaposition. Their art can be seen at their website.

Shofuso Japanese Cultural Center

Lansdowne Dr & Horticultural Dr, Philadelphia, PA 19131
215-878-5097

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