Tetsuya Ishida

(1973-2005)

The Men On A Belt Conveyor
1996
145.7 x 103.2 cm (57 3/8 x 40 5/8 in).

Footnotes

Provenance
Gallery Q, Tokyo
Private Collection, Singapore
Sale: Sotheby's, Hong Kong, Contemporary Curated: Hong Kong, 8 July 2022, Lot 6011
Acquired from the above by the present owner

Exhibited
Tokyo, Guardian Garden, Drifter, 7 - 18 October 1996
New York, Gallery Q, Asian Contemporary Art Fair New York, 2007
Madrid, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Tetsuya Ishida: Self-portrait of Other, 11 April – 6 September 2019
New York, Gagosian, Tetsuya Ishida: My Anxious Self, 12 September – 21 October 2023

Literature
A Collection of Posthumous, Kyuryudo, Tokyo, 2008, p. 30, illustrated in colour
Tetsuya Ishida - Complete, Kyuryudo, Tokyo, 2010, p. 52, illustrated in colour
Tetsuya Ishida's Notes, Kyuryudo, Tokyo, 2013, p. 56, illustrated in colour
Tetsuya Ishida: Self-portrait of Other, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, 2019, p.38, illustrated in colour
Lauren Moya Ford, Dreams and Dystopia: Tetsuya Ishida, Mousse 68, 2019, https://www.moussemagazine.it/magazine/dreams-dystopia-tetsuya-ishida/
Gagosian, My Anxious Self, New York, 2023, p.42, illustrated in colour on the back cover

石田徹也
運輸帶上的男人
壓克力 木板
1996年作

簽名：石田徹也（背面）

來源
Q畫廊，東京
新加坡私人收藏
拍賣：香港，蘇富比，「現當代藝術：香港」，2022年7月8日，拍品編號 6011
現藏家得自上述來源

展覽
「Drifter」，Guardian Garden，東京，1996年10月7-18日
紐約亞洲當代藝術博覽會，Q畫廊，紐約，2007年
「石田徹也: Self-portrait of Other」，索菲婭王后國家藝術中心博物館，馬德里，2019年4月11-9 月 6 日
「石田徹也: My Anxious Self」，高古軒，紐約，2023年9月12日-10月21日

出版
《石田徹也遺作集》，求龍堂，日本，2008年，第30頁，彩圖
《石田徹也全作品集》，求龍堂，日本，2010年，第52頁，彩圖
《石田徹也筆記》，求龍堂，日本，2013年，第56頁，彩圖
《石田徹也: Self-portrait of Other》，索菲婭王后國家藝術中心博物館，馬德里，2019，第38頁，彩圖
Lauren Moya Ford 著，《Dreams and Dystopia: Tetsuya Ishida》，Mousse 68，2019年7月，擷取自https://www.moussemagazine.it/magazine/dreams-dystopia-tetsuya-ishida/
《My Anxious Self》， 高古軒，紐約，2023年，第42頁，封底載彩圖

Tetsuya Ishida (1973-2005) was born in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. While studying at art university, he displayed remarkable talent. However, his dream of becoming an artist conflicted with his father's expectations, and without financial support from his family, he took on various part-time jobs to pay his tuition. After graduating, he initially worked in commercial design to support himself, though his true aspiration was always to be a painter. At that time, Japan was facing with the aftermath of an economic downturn, leading Ishida to leave his job, support himself with odd jobs, and focus on creating art. Tragically, his life was cut short by a traffic accident at age 31, leaving behind less than 200 works.

It was only after his passing that his art began to receive significant public attention. Though first recognized by museums in Japan, his work has since gained international acclaim. His works was exhibited at the 2015 Venice Biennale, and in 2019, the Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid held a retrospective in his honour, where his works resonated deeply with European audiences. Through distorted imagery and surreal techniques, Ishida fused human figures with objects, poignantly portraying the oppressive and hopeless atmosphere that has long characterized Japanese society, evoking a profound response from viewers worldwide.

Tetsuya Ishida often depicted neatly dressed male office workers, symbolizing individuals as machines, components, or consumer goods. These figures—whether shown waiting at a bar counter to be refuelled, merging with amusement park rides, or contorting their bodies to fit inside a small train—embody a sense of resignation in the struggle for survival. As mere cogs within a vast machine called society, they appear trapped in a monotonous, endlessly repetitive world, constrained by work and societal structures that not only consume their time and limit their freedom but ultimately erode their capacity for independent thought.

Executed in 1996, The Men on a Belt Conveyor features men in suits reclining diagonally on an escalator, all sharing the same expression and posture. Their pale, lifeless faces, closed eyes, sealed lips, and limp arms make it ambiguous whether they are human or machine. Alongside the escalator, workers in khaki uniforms with industrial goggles hold screwdrivers in one hand and pliers on the other, appearing to adjust and refine the bodies that resemble industrial products on a conveyor belt.
The escalator occupies most of the canvas, creating a powerful visual impact for viewers. On one hand, the artist uses traditional Western single-point perspective to depict the escalator, adding depth and space to the flat surface of the canvas, as if the viewer stands at its base, watching each figure pass by in succession. On the other hand, the men on either side of the escalator are shown from a downward perspective, obscuring their expressions and emotions. In the same scene, when the painting's viewpoint is elevated, the viewer appears to adopt an omniscient perspective, observing everything happening on the escalator as a bystander. Ishida's use of multiple perspectives intensifies the emotional tension within the work. Unlike the traditional Western single-point perspective that fixes a single focal point, multiple perspectives create a sense of expansiveness, allowing the viewer's gaze to continuously explore. Through this change in viewpoint, the viewer is encouraged to consider whether they are trapped on the conveyor belt without a soul or complicit in watching passively.

The Men on a Belt Conveyor reflects the impact of Japan's economic turmoil during the "Lost Decade," with Ishida focusing on how this period affected the people of Japan. Once known as the "Land of the Rising Sun," Japan revolutionized global manufacturing through its just-in-time production lines. Companies like Mitsubishi, Panasonic, and Toyota, along with high-speed transport systems like the Shinkansen, helped Japan recover from its post-war decline and achieve economic prosperity. However, this proud industrial culture became a double-edged sword after the economic bubble burst, gradually consuming the spirit of its people. In an increasingly mechanized society, individuals became mere cogs in a vast economic machine, trapped in monotonous and meaningless routines. This culture led to a sense of alienation, devaluation, and replaceability among workers. The repetitive arrangement of figures in Ishida's painting amplifies the sense of monotony and futility, with their identical expressions and postures conveying a collective exhaustion and loss of identity. People appear trapped within a colossal production line called "modernity" — an endless conveyor belt with no escape.

"I am deeply drawn to artists like saints, who believe that a single brushstroke can save the world." Ishida's painting may initially appear grotesque and twisted, yet it invites viewers to reflect on the gap between reality and an ideal society. Similar to the French artist Jean-François Millet, renowned for The Gleaners, who used realist technique to depict the hardships of rural life during industrialization. Ishida's personal experience during Japan's "Lost Decade" enabled him to create artworks that reflect the struggles of those affected by societal change. Even today, his powerful and evocative works resonate deeply with viewers.

石田徹也（1973-2005）出生於日本靜岡縣，自就讀美術大學期間即展現出非凡的才華，但他想當藝術家的理想卻與父親的期望背道而馳，只能四處打工籌取學費。畢業後，為了生計他曾從事商業設計工作，但他始終只想成為畫家，而不是平面設計師。當時日本正受泡沫經濟後，市場不景氣的影響，他便辭去了工作，一邊打零工一邊創作。然而，一場交通事故中奪去了他的生命，結束他短暫的藝術之路，享僅31歲，留下不過兩百多件作品。過世之後，他的創作才逐漸獲得大眾關注。除了日本國內的美術館，他更踏上國際舞台，2015年他的作品獲選至威尼斯雙年展主場館中展出，2019年西班牙馬德里的索菲婭王后國家藝術館為他舉行盛大的回顧展，於歐洲造成極大的迴響。他透過變形意象和超現實的手法，將人類與其他物體結合在一起，深刻地描繪日本社會長期瀰漫著一種壓抑與無奈的氛圍，引起觀者的共鳴。

石田徹也經常描繪穿戴整齊的男性上班族，並且將人比喻為機械、零件或消費性用品。這些上班族，不論是在吧台桌前等待燃油槍補給餵食、與樂園裡飛行機連成一體，或屈著身體塞進小火車，都在在訴說著人們為了生存的無可奈何，人作為推動社會這台大機器運作的其中一顆齒輪，就像是被困在一個機械性不斷循環的世界中，被工作與制度捆綁著，不僅時間被填滿、自由被限制，最終連思想都被剝奪。

創作於1996年的《運輸帶上的男人》，西裝革履的男人們由上而下斜躺在手扶梯上，他們有著相同的表情和姿勢，蒼白沒有血色的臉，閉著的雙眼與雙唇、與無力下放的手臂，讓人感受不出來他們到底是人類或是機器。手扶梯兩旁，如同工廠生產線的作業員，身穿卡其色工作服，頭戴工業用護眼罩，一手拿著螺絲起子，另一手拿著鉗子，好似在為斜躺在手扶梯上，看似工業產品的人體進行加工與修整。

《運輸帶上的男人》畫作中的手扶梯佔據畫面大部分的空間，帶出具有震撼力的視覺效果。一方面，藝術家採用傳統西方的單點透視法，客觀地將手扶梯呈現於平面畫布上，使之具有立體感和空間感。觀者彷彿就站在手扶梯的底端，看著修整好的人物一個接著一個不斷輸送。另一方面，手扶梯兩側的男人則以完全不同的方式呈現，畫面中由上往下的視角，讓我們無法看清男人們的神情，無從得知他們的情緒。同樣的情境，再將此件作品的視角提高，觀者彷彿位於全知視角，以旁觀者的身分注視著在手扶梯上發生的一切。石田徹也透過在作品中使用不同的視角，增強了畫面的情緒張力。傳統的西方透視法，畫中只有一個焦點，就是人眼固定不動時能看到的範圍，如同照相般將畫面停留在最關鍵的部分。而多點透視即為一個畫面中有許多焦點，營造出一邊走一邊看得感覺，使視線範圍可以無限擴大。透過視角的轉換，讓觀者得以細細琢磨，究竟我們是被困在運輸帶上沒有靈魂的機器，抑或是冷漠旁觀默認這一切發生的加害者？

《運輸帶上的男人》準確地詮釋日本在「失落的十年」經濟困頓的狀態下對「人」的影響。這個東方的旭日之國，透過「及時化生產」（just-in-time）的流水線，征服了全球製造業，三菱工業、松下電機、豐田汽車這些撐起國家經濟的工業、和高效且快速的新幹線，引領日本脫離二戰後的衰敗，前往經濟繁榮的新世界。然而，這個令他們引以為傲的工業文化，隨著日本泡沫經濟破裂後，就像一把雙面刃，反過來吞噬掉人的精神性。一個日益機械化的社會，人們像大型經濟機器中的齒輪一樣，困在單調、毫無意義的例行工作中。這種文化讓勞工感到疏離、被低估且易於被替換。人物的重複排列更加強了單調、不斷重複的無力感，他們相同的表情和姿勢傳達出一種集體的疲憊和身份迷失感，人們被困在這座名為「現代」的巨大生產線中，一個沒有出口、不斷重複循環的運輸帶，無處可逃。

「我深深地被如聖人般的藝術家吸引。他們相信『畫筆能一筆一劃地拯救世界』」石田徹也筆下的世界看似詭譎、扭曲，實則透過作品讓觀者體悟到現實與理想社會之間的距離，引領觀者去思考，改善所處的社會。如同以《拾穗》這件作品聞名的法國巴比松派畫家米勒(Jean-François Millet)，看似透過寫實手法描繪鄉村的務農生活，實為反映工業化時代，面對生活型態改變，農民生活的艱辛。正是因為石田徹也曾體會過日本「失落的十年」壓抑的生活狀態，他才能創作與觀者共鳴，深刻真實的畫作。