Sculptor Takahiro Iwasaki has been selected to represent Japan at the Venice Biennale in 2017, Artnews reports. The Hiroshima-based artist who is known for his small, but labour-intensive replicas of temples and shrines, has taken inspiration from the Japanese pavilion itself which is supported by four pilotis – reinforcing pillars that are used to hold up the city – for his new piece titled Upside-Down Forest. ‘By creating the different perspectives of looking upward/looking downward for the first exhibit,’ Iwasaki has said, ‘I hope to create a multifaceted spatial experience… Furthermore, as the differing perspectives of artificial vs. natural, order vs. chaos, and history vs. present complement each other, I hope that the viewers will become aware of the fragility of things, the flow of the passage of time, and the trompe-l’oeil effect of changing perception.’
13 July 2016
