Shimabuku
The Street
17 Jul - 07 Sep 2008
Berlin-based Japanese artist Shimabuku works with places and people to create humorous and uplifting works about everyday life. Using a variety of formats including film, video, text, performance and installation, he revives local traditions and hidden histories by transporting them into unlikely contexts.
Following a visit to Wentworth Street in East London, Shimabuku was struck by how closely the area relates to his previous work. For him, it read like an album: a collected record of experiences and memories. In this project he presents his own personal Album through a retrospective of work inspired by the local shops and businesses that evoked these associations. Former works take on a new life and visitors are encouraged to explore their own connections with Wentworth Street.
During his exhibition, Shimabuku takes up residence in Wentworth Street and makes a new work that will be displayed in The Shop, The Street’s Headquarters on Toynbee Street. Visitors entering the premises encounter an enormous cardboard box that has appeared there seemingly from nowhere, its contents unknown. This is an extension of Shimabuku’s existing cardboard box series in which he charts the experiences of a cardboard box as it travels around the world.
Following a visit to Wentworth Street in East London, Shimabuku was struck by how closely the area relates to his previous work. For him, it read like an album: a collected record of experiences and memories. In this project he presents his own personal Album through a retrospective of work inspired by the local shops and businesses that evoked these associations. Former works take on a new life and visitors are encouraged to explore their own connections with Wentworth Street.
During his exhibition, Shimabuku takes up residence in Wentworth Street and makes a new work that will be displayed in The Shop, The Street’s Headquarters on Toynbee Street. Visitors entering the premises encounter an enormous cardboard box that has appeared there seemingly from nowhere, its contents unknown. This is an extension of Shimabuku’s existing cardboard box series in which he charts the experiences of a cardboard box as it travels around the world.