SHIKI 4 |
Artworks |
Written by Satoshi KOGANEZAWA |
Published: November 12 2008 |
Those who are accustomed to Azuma's work must never have expected that he would use vacuum packing for the "SHIKI" series, which has used iron framing, a freezer and an aquarium in the past. The latest exhibition has two big differences: one is too flat; the other has too much stress on the pine tree. He used to focus on reconstructing "three-dimensional" flowers/plants in a space. "SHIKI" is a series that puts a pine tree into a certain format, quadrangle, basically in three dimensions. This really thin form can be said to be quite unusual. The pine tree enclosed in vacuum packing was under severe stress since it was a living thing, and this was different to the past series. It lost its greenness day by day and came closer to death every moment. Even though it would be replanted in the future a delay in recovery was inevitable. The vacuum packing emphasized the beauty of its shape, and the flatness enhanced the vivid visual impact of the work. An utterly new "SHIKI" was born, distinct from the past series. His thoughts about flowers/plants made huge leaps here. Data Artist: Makoto Azuma Year: 2008 Genre: Installation Owner: AMPG Material: pine (Japanese white pine), plastic Size: H1,000 x W1,000 x D180 (back) , H450 x W450 x D5 (front) Note: AMPG 18th Exhibition (September 1st - 20th, 2008) Exhibition Style: three-dimensional work, photos, movies |
Last Updated on November 01 2015 |
updated: Aug 3,2015
Born on July 24
1976 in Fukuma
Fukuoka. Flower shop owner.He came to Tokyo in 1997 to make his debut in a rock band with four members. While engaged in the band activities
he started to work as a trader in Ota Market
one of the biggest markets of flowers and ornamental plants in Japan.
author: Satoshi KOGANEZAWA
published: May 28,2009
On March 9
2009
I visited AMKK (Makoto Azuma
Kaki Kenkyujo) and JARDINS des FLEURS
which had moved to Minami-Aoyama on January 11
2009. My aim was to interview Makoto Azuma
who had held exhibitions at AMPG twenty-four times and had just finished his photographic exhibition entitled ""AMPG vol.24+1"".
author: Satoshi KOGANEZAWA
published: Mar 26,2009
18/MAR/2009-24/MAY/2009
Mitsubishi-Jisho ARTIUM
This is a comprehensive exhibition of Azuma’s private gallery activities of twenty-four exhibitions up to the present exhibition of artworks using plants. The gallery was operated by Azuma himself for two years from April 2007 to March 2009 in Kiyosumi-Shirakawa.
author: Satoshi KOGANEZAWA
published: Apr 21,2009
03/APR/2009-09/APR/2009
ELMO LEWIS Gallery
""TOTAL"" is a kind of project exhibition
which is also organized as a presentation party of Elmo Lewis Inc
a company which has started to import and sell planters made by VesseL USA Inc. Works created by Makoto Azuma using planters and paintings by Kensuke Sasaki are displayed together in this exhibition space
author: Satoshi KOGANEZAWA
published: Jun 29,2009
18/MAR/2009-24/MAY/2009
Mitsubishi-Jisho ARTIUM
Makoto Azuma dislikes nostalgia intensely. When AMPG
which he had been operating for two years
closed in March 2009
he said
""…this means neither a starting point nor an ending of something""
which means that Azuma is looking towards the ""present"" or the ""future"" in creating his works.
author: Satoshi KOGANEZAWA
published: Jul 20,2009
15/MAY/2009-07/JUN/2009
EYE OF GYRE
Distortion X Flowers is the long-awaited exhibition for those of us who are familiar with the background of Azuma
now a florist
as an aspiring youth who left his hometown Fukuoka to come to Tokyo to start his musical career.
author: Satoshi KOGANEZAWA
published: Sep 16,2009
26/JUL/2009-
Naoshima Bath “I♥湯”
What a greedy man I am to seek added value for Japanese-style public baths and hot springs
though it is pleasant enough just to sit in a large bathtub with my legs stretched out. I never go to bath houses since I have a bath at home....
author: Satoshi KOGANEZAWA
published: Oct 19,2009
18/SEP/2009-27/SEP/2009
21_21 DESIGN SIGHT
This show was held in Tokyo as part of the exhibition tour of the ""TOKYO FIBER ’09""
which was held first at Triennale Design Museum
Milano around the same term as La Triennale Di Milano in April
2009
under the direction of the designer
Kenya Hara.
author: Satoshi KOGANEZAWA
published: Oct 29,2009
10/OCT/2009-11/OCT/2009
adidas Plants House
The plastic greenhouse about which I would like to write here is located in a corner of Sakuragaoka
Setagaya Ward. We often see that vegetables and fruits are cultivated for foods in greenhouses which are owned by farmers. Nevertheless
this greenhouse is different to that of general in that there are some kinds of trees...
author: Satoshi KOGANEZAWA
published: Nov 23,2009
30/OCT/2009-03/NOV/2009
CLEAR GALLERY
There is one anecdote. Hideyoshi Toyotomi heard that morning glories were blooming beautifully in Sen no Rikyu’s garden and he wished to visit there. However
as soon as reaching Rikyu’s garden...
author: Satoshi KOGANEZAWA
published: Jan 11,2010
01/DEC/2009-05/MAY/2010
ARK HILLS ARK KARAJAN PLACE
Indeed
the title of the works
""Bridge of Plants"" (2009)
created by Makoto Azuma
and their concept of ""working as bridges between cities and nature"" would make you imagine in a relatively-easy way the figure of bridges created by using plants...
author: Satoshi KOGANEZAWA
published: Sep 23,2008
""AMPG""(AZUMA MAKOTO PRIVATE GALLERY)
the private gallery where Azuma Makoto established for presenting his artwork using flower/plant monthly for two years from April
2007 to March
2009.
updated: Aug 3,2015
In a white space
(s)he stood still in the distance to stare at Makoto Azuma. “LEAF MAN” is the existence Azuma saw in his dreams sometimes. Rezfan(F)
Monsutera (M)
Haran (F)
Kuwazuimo (M)
Yashi (F)
Asuparagasu - Pera (M)
Sanderina (F)
Erendarika (M)
Tamashida (F)
Sumairakkusu (M).
updated: Aug 3,2015
Do you know Yukio Nakagawa (born in 1918)? He learned Ikenobo-style Ikebana from his grandmother
and in 1950
joined Hakkuto-sha
the Ikebana research group presided over by Mirei Shigemori
landscape researcher and gardener. In 1951
he became disaffiliated from Ikenobo.
updated: Aug 3,2015
When entering the gallery
it smelled slightly
but not because of rotten flowers/plants. As I walked in
I saw that something black was scattered on the floor. The smell was caused by firecrackers and the scattered material was pieces of dahlias that had been blown up by them.
updated: Aug 3,2015
A slender green bud of an Easter lily is articulated on the tip of a silver hand clip stuck in the concrete. The theme of this second artwork
which was created after ""Botanical Sculpture #1 Assemblage"" (February 2008)
is ""holding (catching)"".
updated: Aug 3,2015
A vertically long acrylic case. A piece of beef was hanging down from the upper side. Vivid red paphiopedilum was pinned onto the beef that was hanging in the air and gradually changing its color to dark red.
updated: Aug 3,2015
Photos of flowers/plants placed in cups are displayed on the walls. They are on a cup or just put beside a cup. The flowers/plants are waste materials
not for sale as products. The beauty and the interest of their figure are remarkable.
updated: Aug 3,2015
The room light is turned off and scattered incandescent lamps illuminate a huge cage. It looks like one used to hold savage animals
but the lock is an unreliable padlock.
updated: Aug 3,2015
As the reply to ""Bamboo"" (published in ""Howling at the Moon"" in 1917) by Sakutaro Hagiwara
he created a bamboo grove consisting of one bamboo and twenty-five photo panels.
updated: Aug 3,2015
Green peeping through a brown lump almost vertically rises up against the concrete side
for a short distance. That thick bud and stem look like a male sexual organ
however
the pointed end will break into red colors and finally produce a big
beautiful flower.
updated: Aug 3,2015
Several flowers/plants are combined by using bands within a four meter stage. The first theme of ""Botanical Sculpture"" series is ""Assemblage"". It has massiveness
but the rhythmical arrangement is also fun.
updated: Aug 3,2015
A flower is a sexual organ. Pollens produced by stamens are pollinated on an ovule that is part of a pistil
and seeds are born.
updated: Aug 3,2015
A red exhibition room created by red film pasted onto the windows and fluorescent lighting.
updated: Aug 3,2015
In the middle of November
Christmas trees can be seen here and there. The colorfully decorated
glittery trees are welcomed by people. It is the busiest season for Azuma
a flower shop owner
and he often used to accept the job of providing trees.
updated: Aug 3,2015
In sharp contrast to the entirely red space of the last exhibition
a cool place was produced in the middle of a hot summer. The keyword for this exhibition is ""appreciation"".
updated: Aug 3,2015
Japanese cedar reaching a height of 2m and a weight of 200kg
Leucobryum juniperoideum. The planters used to carry each plant move around the exhibition room at a speed of 2km per hour
sometimes rotating or turning around by crashing into each other.
updated: Sep 10,2015
I want to end by just describing the beauty of this. Frankly
I would like to keep silent without speaking any words.
updated: Aug 3,2015
What an extravagant title! The diagram written on the wall
""punk = tank = fuck = Punk tank garden"" against ""infinity = space = empty = Japanese garden""
is also brilliant.
updated: Aug 3,2015
The material Azuma used for the exhibition ""TOKYO FIBER ’09 SENSEWARE""
showcasing creativity using Japanese artificial fiber technology
was terramac (by Unitika
Ltd.).
updated: Aug 3,2015
This is a photographic work announced in his solo exhibition ""Distortion×Flowers"". Various vivid flowers and plants make up the whole like a collage centering on one effector.
updated: Aug 3,2015
Two years after the exhibition in AMPG
this was a work announced in the fourth stage of ""AMPG vol. 25
The 4th Stage"" held in Mitsubishi-Jisho ARTIUM in Fukuoka
the artist’s hometown.
updated: Jul 28,2010
announced the works at iida's new model symposium
updated: Mar 8,2011
Azuma embodies the sense of beauty and the outlook on the world produced by the musicians.
updated: Jul 4,2011
for the charity art project organized by Herman Miller and more Trees design.