Early-twentieth century Modernism greatly transformed our lives, liberating the human

spirit from untold decoration. No longer needing to draw attention from God, all

aristocratic attempts at ostentation have fallen away. At last we avail ourselves of

mechanical aids far beyond our human powers, attaining the freedom to shape things at

will.

I decided to trace the beginnings of our age via architecture. Pushing my old large-format

camera’s focal length out to twice-infinity―with no stops on the bellows rail, the view

through the lens was an utter blur―I discovered that superlative architecture survives,

however dissolved, the onslaught of blurred photography. Thus I began erosion-testing

architecture for durability, completely melting away many of the buildings in the process.

- Hiroshi Sugimoto