Past Residents Akira Takaishi
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Akira Takaishi, Bend, 2018
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Akira Takaishi, Little Bend, 2019
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Akira Takaishi, Little Bend, 2019
Akira Takaishi (born/resides in Japan, b.1985) practices in the fields of land art, installation and spatially concerned painting. Through these forms Takaishi develops structural excavations as complex reflections of societal formations and individual identities. Paradoxically, Takaishi’s burrows offer somewhere to escape into, and yet simultaneously entrap. As a Masters graduate from the Musahino Art University (Japan), Takaishi has had numerous solo and group shows in Tokyo, and most recently, he has undertaken an artist residency at the Cité Internationale des art, Paris, France (Sept 2016 – Aug 2017)
Through an ongoing exploration of the topological properties concerning holes, rooms, stairs and prisons, I will investigate the complex structural form of Suomenlinna as a sea fortress to inform a new series of research outcomes. Similarly, both Islands and fortresses are isolated territories. This disconnection might particularly benefit autonomy and identity-building for these structures. This research project will examine the potential autonomy for artwork, individuals and nations within the context of a Suomenlinna environmental inquiry.
The residency is realised in context of a collaboration between HIAP – Helsinki International Artist Programme, Finnish Cultural Foundation and TOKAS – Tokyo Art and Space.