Facts of Life

04 October - 09 December 2001

You walk through a pool of reflective silver balls. Smaller selves glance up, surprised by existence. In a corner of the dark room, a man escorts an Octopus.

Elsewhere, a very English train journey pours prismatic rainbows into a lens. Ghostly sculptures float seductively in unignorable heights. The world connects.

Unusually, you notice a woman singing. In the stillness flowers deceive where photographic girls hang available and imprisoned in more than the moment. Paint trails explosive circuitry. A passing glance from a parting carriage reveals natural geometry - in this lonely world you realise that form interacts. A countdown caresses your every move. An engine becomes a symphony.

This is the Hayward Gallery. These are the Facts of Life. Here is Contemporary Japan.