An Installation Where Pigeons "Live"

This exhibition centers on "ambivalence," where opposing elements coexist, such as "preservation and decay," and "the pursuit of eternity and ephemerality." It presents viewers with "the fragile state of our world" and "the passage of time." The concept that nothing in this world, including humans and human creations, exists eternally, and that all things change under the influence of time, is brought to life.


Focusing on this concept, four artists—Japanese artist Naoya Hatakeyama, and from abroad, Kasper Kovitz, Anne & Patrick Poirier, and Yuan Goang-ming—have presented installations using a diverse range of motifs, materials, and media.


Photographer Naoya Hatakeyama exhibits twelve photographs taken on Mount Ventoux in southern France. He explores the concept of the "sublime" through landscapes that are ideal yet unable to resist the unseen forces beneath the earth. His work conveys a sense of peace and tranquility alongside the raw, rugged, and dangerous beauty of the highlands.

©Louis Vuitton / Jérémie Souteyrat Courtesy of Espace Louis Vuitton Tokyo

French artists Anne & Patrick Poirier, meanwhile, explore systems for classifying memory and its flow.──Their work focuses on the preservation, classification, and forgetting of memory. The seven-meter-high, conical metal installation at the center of the space, "The Soul of the World," is inspired by Henri Bergson's "cone of memory." This colossal cone is likened to a "birdcage" containing several pigeons. The small, fragile pigeons represent the uncertainty and fragility of memory itself, while their flight symbolizes the transience of recollections.


Further into the venue, a painting installation bursts with color. "The Sheer Size of It," a new work by Austrian artist Kasper Kovitz, is a seven-meter-diameter illustration made from approximately 380 kilograms of edible bear gummies, expressing the theme of "temporality." Kovitz, drawn to heavenly landscapes, created this piece after extensive research into his imagined vision of paradise. The gummies melt under the sun's heat, causing the artwork's form to change daily, thus embodying its inherent "temporality."

©Louis Vuitton / Jérémie Souteyrat Courtesy of Espace Louis Vuitton Tokyo

Finally, Taiwanese artist Yuan Goang-ming presents "Disappearing Landscape – Reason to be a leaf," a work of moving digital imagery. He photographed weeds from his home, scanned the resulting images, and then digitally removed the leaf veins. The leaves are not just stripped of their individuality but also of their identity.──By erasing key features of an image, Yuan Goang-ming questions whether an image can exist without them. Through this series, he also addresses issues of identity, time, globalization, and the challenges faced by Taiwan.

Traces of Disappearance

Dates: January 18 (Sat) – April 13 (Sun)

Hours: 12:00 – 20:00

Venue: Espace Louis Vuitton Tokyo

5-7-5 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Louis Vuitton Omotesando Building 7F

Tel. 03-5766-1094