CHIHARU SHIOTA

CHIHARU SHIOTA

One Place

Location: Haunch of Venison London West Galleries

Date: 19 February – 27 March ’10

Saw this in the Guardian Art+Design news today, and just had to find out more… Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota is The Guardians featured artist of the week (76) and is currently presenting her first UK solo exhibition in West London at Haunch of Venison, following her UK debut at the Hayward Gallery in 2009 in the group show ‘Walking in my Mind’.

The installation that caught my attention presents a space filled with an intricate web of black yarn, encompassing everyday objects. The installation is striking, it almost reminds me of Marcel Duchamps ‘Mile of String’ (1942) installation. However, it had a very different intention and didn’t seem to hold such the sinister sense this exhibition appears to have. Intriguing to say the least though. Below is a few extracts about the exhibition and artist from Haunch of Venisons website:

‘The exhibition will include a major installation made from over 400 found windows from East Berlin where the artist lives and works, collected over the years from deserted and dismantled buildings, construction sites, disused psychiatric hospitals and uninhabited apartments.’

‘Central to the artist’s work are the themes of remembrance and oblivion, dreaming and sleeping, traces of the past and her childhood, and the dealing with anxieties.’

‘Several years ago Shiota started working on ‘room-filling’; impenetrable installations made of black thread which arose from the artist’s desire to ‘draw in the air’, and the start of the artist’s Trauma/Alltag and State of Being (Zustand des Seins) series. These disorienting cocoons of black yarn often enclose various household and everyday, personal objects’

 

MARCEL DUCHAMP: MILE OF STRING

Info and images:

http://www.haunchofvenison.com

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2010/feb/24/artist-chiharu-shiota-installation

STUDIO TOOGOOD: COMME DE GARCONS

COMME DE GARCONS

Designer: Faye Toogood

Location: Dover Street Market, London

I came across this installation completed by Studio Toogood, which displays shoes for fashion brand Comme de Garcons. Located in the basement of Dover Street Market in London, the interior comprises stacked plaster blocks, raw concrete walls, copper pipes and lamps hanging from ropes.

“I wanted to create a space that was both raw and elegant, so I chose to work with plaster, copper, concrete and rope. The idea was not to have a super glossy, highly finished look but to reveal the very nature of the materials and their inherent imperfections – or in my view – inherent beauty” – Faye Toogood.

The installation has achieved a rough, industrial type quality, which compliments its context perfectly. The interlocking plinths are practical for displaying and re- configure the way the space is occupied. 

 

http://www.studiotoogood.com/Projects/Comme-des-Gar-ons

LABYRINTH OF WOODS

LABYRINTH OF WOODS

Artist: Ben Nagaoka / point


Curation: Masaaki Takahashi

Date: 2010.2.10 (WED) – 2010.7.12 (MON)


Location: Tokyo, Japan

Venue: Diesel Denim Gallery Aoyama
Only existing in Tokyo and New York, DIESEL DENIM GALLERY is the signature store for the most prestigious collection at Diesel and also functions as a gallery space, it holds art installations twice a year on the first floor and art exhibitions four times a year on the second floor. It has been actively supporting talented rising artists by providing its space to exhibit their work.

‘Labyrinth of Woods’ is the current installation in place, a matrix of plywood branches that create a series of archways through the space. They sweep down at certain points to form display stands and chandeliers. Closer to the ground they form table shaped furniture.

This installation completely transforms the space. I like the sense of playfulness in relation to the holes in the plywood that represent the idea of a stitched fabric and the overall form.

The installation will remain in place until 10 July 2010.

                  

                                   http://www.diesel.co.jp/denimgallery/index.html