naked shapes
domaine de boisbuchet, france
on now until october 9th, 2011
‘naked shapes’ presents japanese objects for daily use that are made from aluminum which industrial designer seiji onishi,
gallerist keiichi sumi and graphic designer nobuhiro yamaguchi have been passionately collecting over the years.
each piece on show has been stripped down, cleaned of dirt, any sort of ‘make-up’ such as paint or coatings, labels,
excess decoration, so that they stand in their most essential form. their simplicity, anonymity and material nakedness express
a quiet clear poetry of everyday objects.
the pieces assembled within domaine de boisbuchet in france have always been tainted by the aura of being cheap substitutes
and scarcely received any notice, but now exempt from modish posturing and short-lived attractiveness, appear in our world as a
testimony to a culture of meaningful interaction with material things. the process of cleaning that only leaves behind the
naked material and concentrates the form on its essential function symbolizes the typical material-specific workmanship
and refined simplification of japanese design.
on exhibition are some 200 cooking utensils, furniture, household appliances, tools and toys produced as objects of
anonymous design during the period of 1910 to 1960, when the modernization of japan began to take form following
the second world war. a country that has a long tradition of reclaiming and reusing materials, today japan is the world leader
in the recycling of aluminium cans. particularly during the war and postwar period, objects that would normally be made of steel,
wood or ceramic were produced in aluminium, which is expensive to manufacture in the first place, but very easy to process.
thematically conceived and organized by japanese curator ayako kamozawa, the exhibition is based on the presentation of the
onishi-sumi collection for the gallery of the retail chain muji in 2010. the japanese brand’s support for this project made for a logical choice,
as the concept and success of the company are based on similar types of products that are minimalistically,
yet anonymously designed and manufactured in a resource-saving manner.
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