[Exhibition Report] Futako-Tamagawa Rise Studio & Hall: "Yasuhiro Suzuki Exhibition: I am discovering now."

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Futako-Tamagawa Rise I went to the "Yasuhiro Suzuki Exhibition: I am discovering now." held at the Studio & Hall. I will write my impressions of it.

[What I want to convey in this post]
1. A fun special exhibition that feels like a cross between an exhibition and an event, 2. Because the threshold for "noticing" things from the works is low, it can be enjoyed by children and adults who are not interested in art, 3. It is interesting with plenty of interactive art, 4. It was an exhibition perfect for Futako-Tamagawa, which has many families.

▶︎ Reason for visiting

1) Rather than the content of the exhibition, I was interested in the fact that there is an exhibition in Futako-Tamagawa itself, and 2) I decided to go after learning that the content can be enjoyed by children as well.

▶︎ Access

The venue is held at an event hall about a 4-minute walk from Futako-Tamagawa Station, near 109 Cinemas and other facilities. My impression is that it is usually used for events such as seminars and product sales.

Assuming it is rented for 500,000 yen per day, the admission fee is 1,000 yen for adults, so you would need to attract 500 people per day (about 56 people per hour) just to cover the space cost. I visited during the peak weekend time, but there was no such turnout.

Also, there were 20 dispatched staff members inside the venue. Since various expenses are incurred in addition to the space cost, it is almost impossible to monetize with admission fees alone. This exhibition was planned and produced by Bunkamura, with the cooperation of Futako-Tamagawa Rise. Since both are Tokyu affiliates, this exhibition could not have been realized without that scheme.

The front of the venue is made of large glass, and the exhibits inside can be clearly seen from the outside. Passersby often peek inside, thinking, "That looks interesting." I thought it was a good mechanism to hopefully get them to enter!

In addition, a "Premium Beer Terrace" is being held in front of the event hall until September 29th. It is a pity that the tents and such are very obstructive, making it impossible to tell from a distance that an exhibition is taking place. I think this is also affecting the decrease in the number of visitors.

▶︎ "Yasuhiro Suzuki Exhibition: I am discovering now." Impressions

In short, this is an exhibition where Yasuhiro Suzuki's works, which turn small discoveries and realizations in daily life into art from a unique perspective, are lined up. Various works were set up on one floor. It was quite bustling. Since there were no partitions, I thought it was good that even people in wheelchairs could view the exhibition with plenty of space.

Until now, I had never recognized works by Yasuhiro Suzuki. When I looked it up after returning home, I realized I had photographed Yasuhiro Suzuki's work at the Towada Art Center that I visited this April.

I had also seen the "Ship of the Zipper" work installed in this exhibition at some museum before. The waves created after a ship travels through the sea look like the zipper part of a fastener, don't they? It is amazing that he actually turned that idea into a work.

Overall, my impression was that it was a "gentle and fun exhibition, somewhere between art and an event." Even looking from outside the venue, it didn't look like an "exhibition," but rather like some interesting event was taking place, with children running around happily.

Among them, the work that stood out the most and was actually popular was "Blinking Leaves." My child spent about 90% of the time with this work.

There are two holes in a long tube. It is a mechanism where if you put leaf-shaped paper into those holes, it blows out from the top.

An open eye and a closed eye are drawn on the front and back of the paper leaves. It is a mechanism that makes it look like they are "blinking" as they fall from above while rotating.

Some of the works are funny enough to make you chuckle so both adults and children can smile. It's fine to go alone, but it's especially exciting for parents and children, dates, or friends. I thought it was a perfect exhibition for a place like Futako-Tamagawa, which has a large family demographic.

Visitors don't need to read captions with a serious face to "understand" them; there are many works that can be intuitively enjoyed by people all over the world. Because of this, I thought this exhibition would be popular even if held outside of Japan.

Among them, there are also works that feel like slightly silly flashes of inspiration. However, there are few people who take action on those ideas rather than letting them end as fleeting delusions. When you embody those ideas in a form that everyone can enjoy, it becomes more interesting than the delusion itself and can provide insights to many people. In that sense, I thought Yasuhiro Suzuki is a very precious artist.

My child was having fun the whole time. In particular, they kept drawing pictures with "Blinking Leaves", and said that was actually the most fun part.

▶︎Summary

What did you think? It felt more like an "event halfway between art and play" than an "exhibition." Every art piece offers some kind of "insight." In this exhibition, the barrier to that "insight" is low, so I thought it could be enjoyed by both children and adults who have little interest in art. Especially the interactive "Blinking Leaves"! Keep an eye on Yasuhiro Suzuki's future activities!

▶︎Today's Museum Meal