Floating in Tokyo

Inside what looks like fishing nets, there are countless balls resembling rubber, forming sausage-like shapes that hang from the ceiling like hammocks or lie on the floor in the spacious area of Espace Louis Vuitton Tokyo.

The ones hanging from the ceiling are enormous, creating a sort of suspended passageway. Visitors can actually walk through this passage.

As you move further along this somewhat unstable, sausage-shaped structure, the height gradually increases, leading to a circular area resembling a small living room, which serves as the endpoint. This is located at the midpoint between the ceiling and the floor, or perhaps slightly closer to the ceiling.

Suspended in this state, surrounded by glass windows on three sides, you overlook the surroundings. It feels as if you've taken flight and are now riding on clouds above Omotesando, with no way down. The very thing you're standing on, this sausage-like structure, is itself a sculpture and part of the current exhibition. Yet, by being on it, the perspective of viewing it from the outside is lost. This is the nature of the exhibition at Espace Louis Vuitton Tokyo. The Western concept of art, where we observe a sculpture as an external object, is almost entirely absent here. It's even questionable whether the artwork is conscious of being observed at all.

Humans are Natural

It might seem strange for a Japanese person to say this, but the artist who created this distinctly foreign sculpture, now installed in the Omotesando space, is Ernesto Neto. He is a leading contemporary artist from Brazil, highly acclaimed worldwide, and currently based in Rio de Janeiro. Many in Japan are likely familiar with his work, as it has been exhibited here numerous times.

Neto, who once aspired to be an astronaut in his youth, is known for works that explore the physicality and gravity inherent in the human body, much like that of animals. Many of his creations are made from soft materials. Furthermore, as seen in this exhibition, he not only creates the artworks but also curates them and determines their placement within a space, stating that the space itself and its atmosphere are his subjects.




The use of soft materials and the ability to enter the artworks are likely derived from his approach to harmonizing with the space and prompting visitors to become aware of their own bodies.

The exhibition is titled "Madness is part of Life." According to the artist, this "madness" is not an anomaly. Neto explains that the stable state of self-control and purposeful action is not humanity's essential condition. Humans inherently possess a certain irrationality and instability, a "madness" that overflows the boundaries of social beings. Since "madness" is universal, it erases distinctions between individuals. Neto posits that this "madness" is what makes us human and encompasses everyone within the framework of humanity.

Neto hopes that visitors will feel, "Ah, this is life" upon experiencing this work. Perhaps it's a feeling of, "Ah, I too am merely a living being, a human."

The exhibition runs for an extended period, from September 29th to January 6th of the following year. Visiting on different days and at different times offers a luxurious opportunity to float above Tokyo, experience its varied expressions, and connect with your own sense of freedom.



Madness is part of Life
5-7-5 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Louis Vuitton Omotesando Building 7F
Dates | Saturday, September 29, 2012 - Sunday, January 6, 2013
Hours | 12:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Phone | 03-5766-1094
Web | www.espacelouisvuittontokyo.com