ArtTank working, working with the artist to realize their imaginations, at Roppongi Art Night.
For the first time since 2019, after the Covid 19 pandemic, Roppongi Art Night 2023 was held in its original format including the exhibition view during the midnight hours. ArtTank has worked as a associate curator and program coordinator for some of the projects including Takashi Kuribayashi ; Cinema Caravan. In this article, we would be introducing an installation work by Takahiro Iwasaki.
exhibition period： 10:00 AM, May 27 (Sat) 2023 to 18:00, May 28 (Sun) 2023
venue： Renu Building 1, 1st Floor
A room of the building where the installation was exhibited used to be a café with terrace seating. The exhibition was set up to see the inside of the room from the outdoor, where there terrace was situated. The audience first shall enter into a dark space to find a construction site situated inside the room covered with gravel. As the title of the work suggests, there were puddles after the rain reflecting the surrounding scenery on their surface. Some of careless viewers the viewers' observation may have stopped without noticing further clues leading to broader imagination.
Careful observer will notice by moving their viewpoint that Tokyo Tower is visible as a reflection on the water, though of course, Tokyo Tower is not visible anywhere above the puddle. The puddle was like an quiet opening to different world in a different time zone. There were some viewers seeing the installation more than 10 minutes attracted by the fascinated view.
artist's statement：
Roppongi is a symbolic city that has continued to change through continuous scrapping and rebuilding, from its postwar reconstruction from burnt ruins, the subsequent period of high economic growth, the bubble economy and its collapse, and the past 30 years that have been lost. In a vacant lot awaiting redevelopment, the sediment created by May rains reflects the changing times and seems to connect the other shore and this shore. This vacant lot, the puddles, and even the dazzling tower of light will eventually disappear like the morning dew. This ephemeral scene may live in our memories as a faint haze.