Interview: Nobuaki Takekawa

— The exhibition currently on view is titled ‘idling garden’. Could you please share with us your own understanding of ‘the state of idling’? 

It refers to the simplicity of being purely alive —— this conceptual state may have become more particular in times of the pandemic. While human beings are able to halt their activities, they are still different from automobiles. They are not able to halt their “engines” entirely, hence I refer to this state as a form of idling. Moreover, I thought one could also view such a situation as a type of garden scenario hence I titled the exhibition “idling garden”.

— In what ways do you think your trips to Singapore, South Korea and China have inspired and shaped your creative process? What do you miss most about China?

My connection with Singapore first began when I was a student in the late 1990s. Everything there is different from Japan, there were many aspects to learn from, but for Singapore I hope to put aside the tedious topics and be in touch intuitively, it’s almost like my second hometown. Regarding Korea, while participating in social campaigns and creating new works in the 2010s, the history of Korean art was like my textbook. It was a particular history that formed as a result of Western Art being introduced to Korea via Japan during the colonial period, and also socially-engaged art that emerged as a result of democratization in Korea. In China, I became friends with several artists, and was able to gain new perspectives. I miss China’s “malu”, otherwise known as millipede. It looks scary, but is quite adorable once you get used to it.

Image 1: Nobuaki Takekawa (left) with his millipede swim ring and his friends Tang Dixin (middle) and Lu Jiawei (right)

Image 2: Nobuaki Takekawa (right) and his friends Tang Dixin (left) and Zhou Yilun (top)

"Huge Huge” residency project, Sifang Art Museum, 2018, Photography by: Wen Jun