"Where are we going?"
In the works of Chiharu Shiota,
She keeps throwing such questions to the audience.
In 2017, Chiharu Shiota exhibited one of her works, The River of Life, at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Shanghai. 300 wire beds climb up the elevator from the hall on the first floor of the exhibition hall to the exhibition hall on the second floor. Countless 8 mm medical PVC tubes are wrapped around the bed frame, and the thin tubes are constantly flowing with a red liquid like blood.
Thinking about "life" is an important proposition for Chiharu Shiota's artistic creation. In creating "The River of Life", she explores life by witnessing the bed of life, from birth to death, the blood flowing in the veins is endless, carrying the river of life of our deceased.
Journey of the Unknown 2016/2021
Exhibition site map: "Shiota Chiharu: A Trembling Soul",
Long Museum (West Bund), Shanghai, 2021, Photo: Shaunley
VG Bild-Kunst image of Bonn, Germany and Chiharu Shibata
It was also in this year that Chiharu Shiota received an invitation from the Mori Museum of Art to hold an unprecedented solo exhibition in Roppongi, Tokyo. Shortly after being invited, she was detected to have a recurrence of cancer from twelve years ago and had to be treated again. While fighting against the disease, Shiota Chiharu still did not interrupt her creation, and the experience of hovering on the edge of life and death gave her more personal understanding of life. In June 2019, Chiharu Shiota's largest solo exhibition to date was successfully launched at the Mori Art Museum with the theme of "The Soul Trembles".
Two years on, Chiharu Shiota has recovered, and she recalls the experience with us via email. "In the process of using anti-cancer drugs, my feeling is that my heart can't keep up. Because the treatment follows the established process and system, I feel separated physically and mentally. In such a situation, she began to think about the soul, throwing to herself the cold and realistic questions such as "what would happen if I died", "where will my heart and thinking go after the death of the body", "what is the death of the body", etc., which also became the opportunity for the exhibition of "Trembling Soul" and ran through the whole process as a creative context.
Where will we go 2017/2021
The exhibition was titled "Where Are We Going?" At the beginning of the question, dozens of ships woven with white thread soared into the air and embarked on a journey with an unknown end, which seemed to imply that no one could steer the course of life, but we still had to set sail into the unknown. In "Journey of the Unknown", uncertainty and loneliness are further amplified, and the red line spreading from the black ship envelops the space densely, like branches growing out of our bodies, or like the desire to connect with others in the vast void.
String of Tiny Memories 2019/2021
The element of line plays a role in Chiharu Shiota's creation, just as blood is to life. From painting on canvas in his early years to later using space to "paint", Chiharu Shiota had a special preference for lines. If the piano, chairs, and dresses, which are shrouded in repressed black lines, are more symbolic of the deep personal feelings of Chiharu Shiota,000 threads, then everyday objects such as shoes, suitcases, letters, and keys collected from all over the world in a series of red threads recreate human memories and dreams.
"Red represents the connection between people and symbolizes the relationship with people. Black is the universe. White heralds the beginning, and it is pure. "Chiharu Shiota told us. Will other colors of the line be used in the future? She said she couldn't be sure.
Silence 2002/2021
It is certain that no matter how the line changes, Shioda Chiharu's work ultimately wants to express "the presence of people". Traces of the existence of those people are woven into dense lines, the silent piano can play a trembling note, and ordinary shoes are enough to tell the story that everyone cannot copy. No one exists in the work, but everywhere is a human memory, which is the creative concept of Chiharu Shiota, "existence in non-existence".
Chiharu Shiota loves the exhibition, and she believes that through the way of the exhibition, the unspeakable emotions in her heart have a release and a proof that they can be preserved. From December 19 this year to March 6 next year, "Yantian Chiharu: The Fluttering Soul" will be exhibited in China for the first time, and will come to the Long Museum (West Bund) to meet the audience, this exhibition is mainly installation, but also includes sculptures, performance art videos, photographs, drawings and stage design related artwork, etc., to reproduce the artist's emotions about intangible things such as memory, anxiety, dreams, silence and so on.
The journey is full of unknowns after all, but Shiota Chiharu is already on its way to the next port.
Portrait of Chiharu Shiota, courtesy of Chiharu Shiota Studio.
Photo by Sunhi Mang
Q: How has your personal life changed during the pandemic?
A: Before the pandemic, I often traveled to and from different countries and spent less time with my family. However, after the epidemic, I can't go out, and I spend more time with my family. During those days, I was always painting at home.
Although I have exhibitions around the world, due to the epidemic entry restrictions, I can't get to the scene to personally arrange the operation. So during the pandemic, I worked in this way in my personal studio in Berlin, where I finished my work and transported it to the art gallery. Until the impact of the epidemic subsides, exhibitions must be held in a completely different way than before.
Fortunately, thanks to everyone's efforts to obtain a visa, I was able to come to China and personally participate in the installation of the Long Museum (West Bund) in Shanghai. Despite the pandemic and the stagnation of economic activity around the world, we were able to create. Creativity doesn't stop.
Q: The epidemic has not only brought barriers to space and communication, but also made more people think about the topic of "life and death" again, which has always been one of the themes of your creation. What new inspiration has the pandemic brought to your creations?
A: People who have died due to the epidemic need to face death alone. I thought it would be very painful if I didn't have the means to see my family and close friends before I died.
Gathering - In Search of Destination 2014/2021
Q: How did this shift from early works that focused more on private emotions to more attention to public topics later?
A: I basically don't have works named after social public topics. From the beginning of my early creation to the present, I have always focused on the theme of "my own" personal thinking. In the process of making, it slowly transforms into something that "we" and everyone else can resonate with. That is to say, the creation of the work begins with personal feelings, but does not end like this, and eventually evolves into a work that can empathize with the viewer, rather than merging personal emotions with social topics.
Q: When creating, how do you collect such a large number of daily objects from all over the world? In the process of collecting, did something happen that impressed you?
A: I will ask the museum to place boxes dedicated to collecting items, distribute flyers to let everyone know, and recruit online. Basically, it was collected collaboratively by art museums and galleries. When we collect items from a wide range of people, many people will give us personal information as well. Although I didn't see them face to face, I could feel their presence. This is an important element for my creations.
Q: How do you see the relationship between people and things? With so many objects presented at the exhibition site, can it also be seen as abstract people appearing on the scene?
A: I have a creative concept, "existence in non-existence". After collecting the items, I felt the various memories of the original owner while creating works for publication. Although the owner of the object is not present at the exhibition site, everyone can still feel their presence and memory. That's what I call "existence in non-existence," which is a little different from what I call "abstract people."
Inside & Out 2009/2021
Q: Compared to shoes, keys, beds, chairs, etc., "boats" appear relatively less often in daily life, why does it become an important creative element for you? What do you use as a metaphor for "boat"?
A: At the Venice Biennale in 2015, I used a boat for the first time to create. In Venice, boats replaced cars and became an indispensable means of transportation in people's lives. Transporting goods, but also transporting people. Therefore, I wanted to express the deeper meaning of the word "transport", so I applied the ship to the work.
The ship is a symbol of transporting "time", "time", "memory" and "culture". Moreover, it is moving towards its destination. When we sit in a boat and float in the sea, it is like a man floating in the universe. Out of this kind of thinking and meaning, I added the element of the boat to my work.
Q: You decided you wanted to be an artist from the age of 12, why did you think that way?
A: Because my family runs a factory, and seeing their living conditions, I don't want to work like robots myself. Because I love to draw, I've always wanted to be an artist and live in a world of creative creation. Decades later, my thinking hasn't changed.
Externalized Body 2019/2021
Q: From the early years of flat painting to the later use of lines to paint in space, what is the biggest difference between the two?
A: Creating with lines in space is, to me, "painting in space." This is painting in the third dimension. This is not the difference between spatial painting and flat painting, for me it is related to the world of painting anyway.
Q: Walking into your exhibition, you are often shocked, as if you are wandering in a repressed dream, feeling uneasy and afraid, and your own dreams are also anxious and uneasy, as presented in the work?
A: I always feel uneasy and stressed before an exhibition. I would worry, "Can I make a satisfactory work" or "Can I finish it in a limited time?", but that is also the motivation for my creation. It is precisely because of the pressure that you can continue to create.