One hundred and fifty boats from around the world, from all cultures and of all sizes, will figuratively sail across the space at Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche. Hollowed out metal hulls, seemingly drawn with a pencil, will hang in suspension under the store’s central glass roofs. As part of this large-scale ephemeral piece, Shiota will weave the ten window displays of the store on site with her crew during the two previous weeks. On the ground floor, she will create a large wave that visitors can walk through, a spectacular mesh of white yarn called “Memory of the Ocean.”
Chiharu Shiota’s exhibition entitled “Where are we going?” will offer an unprecedented experience in a department store. Its hopeful title invites us to sail towards “a fresh start” while being carried away by the boats which will take us through a journey of uncertainty and wonder. It will also be the first time that Shiota uses white yarn in an installation.
On a broader level, this exceptional event is just another example of Le Bon Marché’s relationship to artists, which it has nurtured since its inception, and of the exhibitions it has initiated and hosted. Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche is confirming its singular place and establishing itself as a pre-eminent venue for contemporary art.
Her approach to boats are quite varied. She is interested in their multiple shapes, their mixed cultural history and their uncertain destinations. Their ability to travel, to connect one point in the world to another, to carry people, along with their imaginations. Although they have already appeared in her work, it is the first time that Shiota draws boats from existing models and that she chooses to use new objects, devoid of history or past. White cotton thread contrasts with the red and black thread she has been using until now. The artist relates such colour to snow, purity, “a new beginning,” but leaves the itinerary open: “Life is a journey without a destination.” In her work, Chiharu Shiota explores the various ties that constitute us as human beings, as individuals. Memory and recollections, actions and interactions, thoughts and dreams create a unique, ephemeral web. Having studied in Japan and then in Germany, Chiharu Shiota was first taught to paint and draw.
She uses yarn as a means to draw in three dimensions. Weaving involves the back and forth movements of a ball of yarn in the air until the artist achieves the desired density: it is a dance, a meditation, a performance.
