kohei nawa's 'pixcell' emu at glasstress 2011
‘pixcell emu’ by kohei nawa
image © designboom

japanese artist kohei nawa exhibits his ‘pixcell emu’ as part of glasstress a collateral event of this year’s venice art biennale. emu is part of a larger series entitled ‘pixcell’ in which nawa utilizes glass beads to cover entire surfaces of objects, mostly taxidermied animals, giving them the vision of ‘the cell of an image’. the artist finds his muses through the internet, some on auction sites.when nawa receives the stuffed animals, they have the feel and smell of flesh, causing discrepencies with the images and associations of the pieces he first sees on a computer monitor. he thus transposes the pieces into ‘pixellated’ forms. 

kohei nawa's 'pixcell' emu at glasstress 2011
image © designboom

kohei nawa's 'pixcell' emu at glasstress 2011
up close
image © designboom

kohei nawa's 'pixcell' emu at glasstress 2011
alternative view
image © designboom

glasstress is a collateral event of the 54th international venice biennale, now in its second year after debuting in 2009.
conceived by adriano berengo, the exhibition collaborates with contemporary artists and designers from around the
world to showcase their talent and creative expressions. the biennale and its collateral events are on view until november 27, 2011.