Saruyama | Osamu Saruyama Exhibition "Private Products" Held

The clock begins to tick again, and this time, it moves us.

Exhibition: Personal Products

Osamu Saruyama, owner of 'Saruyama,' a dealer in antique ceramics, also demonstrates his design acumen across a wide range of fields including graphics, products, and spatial design. An exhibition titled 'Personal Products' will be held at Gallery Watts in Aoyama, featuring his re-creations of mechanical watches from the 1960s to the 80s, whose rhythmic ticking is so pleasing, alongside unreleased desk accessories such as tape cutters and business card holders.

Text by OPENERS

A Slow Appreciation of Objects That Stir the Adult Heart

This 'Personal Products' exhibition showcases a striking array of items. Among them are wall clocks, as pictured, alongside Go Tsugino's wine glasses, Masaki Kanamori's tin sake cups, tape cutters, business card holders, and incense stands. Also featured are Shiro Hamanaka's tea candles, incense burners, sherry glasses, and wine cups; Yukiharu Niihira's dyed furoshiki (wrapping cloths); jizaikagi (a tool for freely adjusting the height of a pot suspended over a hearth or kiln); adjustable lighting fixtures; CD players (GyuMe Disc); CD racks; shirts (Urban Research); and tableware.

We would like to introduce a recommendation from Chinatsu Yamamoto of Gallery Yamamoto.

Personal Products

The wall clock has no face. A slender hand moves across a round aluminum disc. Both are a stark silver. Has it been restored, or advanced? Perhaps it's more accurate to say something has been removed rather than added. Many elements we thought essential are revealed to be unnecessary. The pendulum's chime is soothing. It marks time for the eyes and ears.

These appear to have originally been mechanical grandfather clocks made between the 1960s and 80s. These spring-driven timepieces were commonplace in Japanese households until they were replaced by quartz movements. Today, they are rarely recognized for their antique value. Yet, Saruyama Osamu was captivated by the precision and beauty of these mechanisms, which operate with a light, distinctive sound. When a person is moved by something, the clock begins to tick again, and this time, it moves us.

Perhaps the appeal of Osamu Saruyama's 'personal products' lies precisely in the fact that they are, quite literally, 'personal.' They are born from encounters—with people, with objects—where the creator perceives something and then makes something. An intimate exchange. The result. Behind it all lies the creator's life, and their preferences, which, though perhaps biased, are vividly reflected. The artist knows that to be thoroughly personal is one of the few ways to achieve universality.

The clock is housed in a box painted in a soft, single color and covered with a glass plate. Time seems to flow in one direction, from past to future, but within this box, the past and present coexist with effortless grace.

Chinatsu Yamamoto

Personal Products Exhibition
Dates: January 31 (Mon) - February 5 (Sat), 2011
Hours: 12:00 PM - 7:00 PM (Closes at 5:00 PM on the final day). Open daily during the exhibition.
Organizer & Venue: Gallery Watts
Rapport Minami-Aoyama 103, 5-4-44 Minami-Aoyama, Minato-ku
Tel. 03-3499-2662
http://www.wa2.jp
In cooperation with: Azmaya, Higashi Aoyama, Gallery Yamamoto