In Grace (2001), Koki Tanaka transforms a simple physical event into a quietly disorienting meditation on perception, time, and repetition. The video opens with a static view of an empty room. A basketball drops into the frame and begins to bounce across the wooden floor, initially behaving exactly as expected. Its first impacts follow the familiar laws of physics, each bounce losing height as kinetic energy dissipates.

Very quickly, however, this predictable sequence begins to unravel. Instead of slowing to a stop, the ball continues bouncing with unwavering regularity, suspended in an impossible rhythm that defies gravity and the natural decay of motion. Its sharp impact against the floor remains constant in both volume and tempo, creating an insistent, metronomic pulse that reinforces the illusion of perpetual energy.

Achieved through a perfectly imperceptible edit, the work conceals its manipulation beneath an otherwise ordinary scene. The seamless loop destabilises the viewer's confidence in what they are witnessing, exposing the constructed nature of moving images while revealing how easily repetition can reshape perception. Characteristic of Tanaka's early practice, Grace uses minimal means to uncover unexpected complexity within everyday phenomena. Through the endless repetition of a banal action, the work invites sustained attention to the fragile boundary between reality, illusion, and the subtle mechanics of cinematic time.