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Video

A CANDLE

Youki Hirakawa (Japan)

Location: Durham Cathedral Interior

A flickering flame made eternal

In Hirakawa’s video work, a laid down candle burns faster than usual. As the wax melts, a form is drawn denoting the passing of time.

Through this poetic work, Hirakawa shows his concern with ‘the way that time seems to be leaking into the chaos of the modern world’. Quietly it questions how the processes of personal, ecological and spiritual combustion are sped up. 

With spiritual awareness at the core of this piece, Hirakawa highlights the durational nature of our transient world. As our perceptions of time shift, we become conscious of how all things are connected and through this, we create hope and faith that all remains eternal.

 

Access

The Cathedral is situated at the top of a steep hill. 

Access to the Cathedral is mostly via ramps. Access to the Cathedral Shop, Undercroft Restaurant and Toilets is by steps or by an enclosed platform lift. A level route is also available, although this requires leaving the Cloister and following a route outside the main building. 

Within the Cathedral Church, the Chapel of Nine Altars, the Gregory Chapel and the Shrine of St Cuthbert have no ramps. There is a stair climber which can enable manual wheelchair users to visit these areas under the guidance of a Cathedral employee. 

Toilets: There are accessible toilet facilities on the Cathedral site.  

 

 

 

About Youki Hirakawa

Youki Hirakawa (b.1983 Nagoya/Japan) is a video artist presenting the time dwells in places and objects through the method inspired by Archaeology, Geology, and Alchemy. His artistic practice is based on the research about early moving images and its mechanical apparatus, thus it is similar to Media Archaeology. 

youkihirakawa.jp/

 

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