'moon' score, December 19, 1975

Artist Nomura Hitoshi(Japanese, 1945–2023)Japanese, 1945–2023

CultureJapanese

Titles

'moon' score, December 19, 1975

Date1975, printed c. 1995

MediumGelatin silver print

DimensionsImage: 37 7/8 × 39 3/8 in. (96.2 × 100 cm)
Frame (outer): 45 5/16 × 48 7/16 × 1 1/2 in. (115.1 × 123 × 3.8 cm)

Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment

Object number2014.715

Non exposé

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Department

Photography

Object Type

PHOTOGRAPHS

Description

For his ‘moon’ score series, Hitoshi Nomura photographed the moon on a near-daily basis from December 1975 to December 2013. Through double exposure, he then imposed a musical staff over the images, making the moon appear as musical notes. Translating the series of images into a proper musical score, he then had a musician play the moon’s movement as a natural song, giving voice to the silent mysteries of the lyrical night sky that Nomura intends one to experience both visually and aurally.

ProvenanceThe artist; [Fergus McCaffrey Fine Art, Inc., New York]; purchased by MFAH, 2014.
Exhibition History“For A New World to Come: Experiments in Japanese Art and Photography, 1968-1979 Japan,” Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, March 8–July 12, 2015.

"Shooting the Moon: Photographs from the Museum's Collection 50 Years after Apollo 11," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, July 20–September 2, 2019.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

Framed, no visible signature

Framed, no visible marks or inscriptions

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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