w Face, 23 March, Tokyo, Japan

Nerhol is a collaboration between graphic designer Yoshihisa Tanaka and sculptor Ryuta Iida since 2007. Together they explore the concept of the photographic image. Traditionally, a photograph presents a depiction of a person’s three-dimensional face on a flat plane. The work w Face, 23 March, Tokyo, Japan, however, is a time-lapse portrait consisting of numerous photographs taken over a three-minute period, a process which captures each and every small, involuntary movement of the subject. Subsequently, Nerhol meticulously scoops out and carves the faces in their photographs, combining a layering of the multiple images with reductive carving. By merging many images into a single picture, the artists unveil the small, ever-present alterations within a photograph. In an ingenious way, the duo questions the genre of photographic portraiture and photography as a snapshot of 'reality': every single, minimal movement can already produce a different representation of the sitter.