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Special Exhibition “Story of…: Cartier Creation - Memory of Encountering Beauties”
Reviews
Written by Satoshi KOGANEZAWA   
Published: April 28 2009

Hyokeikan, Tokyo National Museum copy right(c) Cartier

copy right(c) Cartier

copy right(c) Cartier

copy right(c) Cartier

The final exhibition room (room of fragments), copy right(c) Cartier

     The special exhibition entitled “Story of…: Cartier Creation - Memory of Encountering Beauties” has a noteworthy display style, which is why I pick it up here. In other words, I want to convey that Tokujin Yoshioka, who is a designer and the editorial supervisor of this exhibition, has produced an exhibition which provides a very personal and memorable experience for the viewers. Doubtlessly, the highlight of this exhibition is the jewelry made by Cartier, but I suppose the producer, Yoshioka can also be considered another main feature.

      Before going into the main issue, let me recall the exhibition entitled “Second Nature” which was directed by Tokujin Yoshioka and held at 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT (17/Oct/2008-18/Jan/2009). Needless to say, although the artists were chosen by Yoshioka under the concept of “Second Nature” and each of their works*1 was appealing, the creations made by Yoshioka himself were more impressive than those of the other artists. I was particularly struck, not only by a set of new tri-dimensional works, including “Venus – Chair of Crystal” and “Memory of Devi” which were created using natural crystal and polyester fiber, but also the work entitled “CLOUDS – Installation”, which was composed of uncounted numbers of fibers trailing down from the ceiling. Even now I can remember the intense atmosphere and music, which I felt and heard as soon as I entered the exhibition hall. That was a so-called “personal experience” which we cannot express by using the word “viewing” but which we can experience only by throwing ourselves into the space.

     What Yoshioka intends to do in this exhibition is essentially as I have written above, though he has two contrasting roles, one as director and the other as editorial supervisor. A total of 276 jewelry items are illuminated in the space in display cases, the basic color of which is black so that they appeared to be floating to the surface of the display cases. The quality of each display is extremely high and also some displays are interesting in terms of cultural history, as they show the influence of the cultural traditions of various countries such as Egypt, India and China. Some of them are visually very enjoyable because of their beauty and design, though they are unaffordable. I will never forget my surprise on discovering that the untold numbers of white spots on the display cases, which I thought were fingerprints of viewers, turned out be the reflected light of jewelry items. Turning to look at myself, I saw that the light was also illuminating my clothes. Thus, viewers wear these jewelry items without realizing it. Most exhibits are jewelry items that were previously owned by people of a particular class, such as royalty, titled nobility, and movie actors/actress. Therefore, although putting these items on is a symbolic act for us, it means that we absorb more fully the history and story which Cartier has built.

     Lastly, we reach the exhibition room, the color of which is white in contrast with the other dusky rooms which we have walked through before reaching this hall. In this room, we find Yoshioka’s work entitled “Water block” (it is a bench) which was also displayed in “Second Nature”. In the display cases there are perfume bottles made in the form of glass spheres. Indeed, this room is a translucent space. The work entitled “Moon Fragment”, which was made by Yoshioka, inspired by the words of the poet Jean Cocteau, presents us with a beautiful image, and diamonds can be seen shining inside it. What makes this room particularly impressive is the delicate scent which pervades the atmosphere. We rarely sense smells in exhibition halls. However, in the last exhibition room Yoshioka tries to impress viewers by using perfume made by the compounders of Cartier. Thus, this exhibition, which focuses on telling the story of “Cartier Creation”, plays a role as a device for creating the stories of the viewers themselves.

     There is one thing in which I was disappointed. There is no specific description of the last exhibition room and the works displayed there in either the exhibit list or the catalogue, which are both distributed and sold in the exhibition space. It is not unusual for an exhibition organizer to compile catalogues in advance so that they are available for the first day of the exhibition. Indeed, this is not an exhibition which is directed by Yoshioka and I suppose that this exhibition is held under the concept that an exhibition should be remembered rather than recorded. However, considering that viewers will refer to the exhibition catalogue as a written record after the exhibition is finished, it is truly regretful that they cannot find a full description of the exhibition there. That is why I have written my personal experience of this exhibition as above.
(Translated by Nozomi Nakayama)


Notes
*1
The exhibitors of “Second Nature” are the following 8 artists (groups): Noriko Ambe (artist), Makoto Azuma (flower artist), COMPANA BROS. (designer), Asuka Katagiri (photographer), Ross Lovegrove (designer), Kaiji Moriyama (dancer/choreographer) & Soji Kushida (director of motion pictures), Yukio Nakagawa (ikebana artist) and Tokujin Yoshioka (designer)

Related Exhibition

"Special Exhibition “Story of…: Cartier Creation - Memory of Encountering Beauties”"
28/Mar/2009 - 31/May/2009
Venue: Hyokeikan, Tokyo National Museum

Last Updated on July 05 2010
 

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