Exhibition review Known for his huge installations, the Japanese artist used 345 kilometers of thread and woven into the Emma Museum a reasonable space to enter

Culture|Exhibition review

Modern art

Chiharu Shiota: Tracing Boundaries – On the Extremes until 27.11.2022 Espoo Museum of Modern Art in Emma. Tue 11–17, Wed, Thu 11–19, Fri 11–21, Sat – Sun 11–17.

Espoon the museum of modern art at Emma looks like an insect weaving a red web has made a nest there. Or as if it had ended up inside the giant’s gut.

Japanese-born, currently living in Berlin Chiharu Shiotan (b. 1972) installation Tracing Boundaries – At the Extremes (2021) consists of 345 kilometers of blood-red thread. It wraps the exhibition space in a dense network, the tunnels of which lead through the doors to an opening in the middle.

The work is part of a series of commission works by the Emma and Saastamoinen Foundation, in which a work from a current contemporary artist is ordered annually for the Foundation’s collections. The project, which started in 2018, has previously ordered works Alicja Kwadelta, Eeva-Leena from Eklund and Tatsuo Miyajima.

Shiota has worked with the wire for almost his entire career as an artist, for over 20 years. He started out as a painter, but he soon found himself dissatisfied with the possibilities allowed by the two-dimensional surface. He came up with the idea that wire can be used to draw three-dimensional lines, and since then, wire has been his main material.

Today, Shio is known for huge wire installations that fill large exhibition spaces into which the viewer can concretely step inside. In Emma, ​​she braids a moderate space in which the atmosphere is both safe and alienating.

Emma’s work however, the immersive impression would have been enhanced if it had been better separated from the surrounding space. Adjacent Contactthe sounds of the exhibition leak into the exhibition space, and the outside world is a little disturbingly present due to the wide entrances. In addition, the bright, clinical lighting of the space is also not conducive to creating the impression of a dream world detached from the environment.

Shiota relies on a symbolism that is very simple, but also very ambiguous for that reason. Stretched, tangled, and knotted threads can be interpreted as metaphors for memories or relationships, for example. The color of the threads — usually red, black, or white — adds its own distinct dimension of meaning.

Shiota handles themes in his works, especially those related to absence, border states and transitions. She tends to weave objects that are symbolically and emotionally charged into the wire mesh, such as keys, children’s toys, or used shoes that exude the presence of their previous owners. Boats and suitcases are also symbols often used in works.

The old doors found in the buildings of East Berlin in Emma’s work are also related to the dialogue of presence and absence. The doors act as dividers, passageways and concealers. The knocks and wear and tear on the doors tell of the past, which, however, remains anonymous. The work is reminiscent of some kind of mental stairwell, where the doors lead to the minds, memories and the unconscious.

In addition to their visual impact, what makes the works interesting is their symbolism, which is easy to approach but difficult to interpret empty.