profile

Born in 1977 in Tokyo Japan, and lives in Tokyo. Graduated from Goldsmith College, University of London. Creates his own dynamic world with elements which he gathers free from borders and timelines.
http://www.masahirowada.com/

 

（ WHO 005
Price:1,200JPY
A5・96 pages
Bilingual
（Japanese & English） ）

Installation, sculpture, video, performance-- Wada has so many different styles. The size of his work has a wide range as well, from a palm-sized work to a size that can't be stored in the gallery. He exhibits his  
work at all sorts of places too. He sometimes exhibits in his own room, out on the streets, at neighboring flea markets, and not to mention, at galleries.  Every time I see his work, I see different styles, but deep down, I always see passion and his own taste.

W：Your works are composed of wide range of elements: things you usually see in everyday life, legends, or a person of the past. How do you select the components?

Wada：Things that are incomprehensible or beyond my recognition. I find such things more attractive and they drive me to explore more and they stimulate my creativity. I think I have a desire to see or find those kinds of things.
Even if a work consists of unrelated elements, if there's a common theme, it broadens the range and allows the viewer to see from multiple angles. Although the outline of a work could be obscured by that, it could create a level of comfort which allows the viewers to see the next phase. How much I can expand the world and an idea from an art work, or get lost in thought while thinking about it, is important and interesting for me.

W：Sculptures/sculpturing seem to mean a lot in your works, as it is evident in your portrayal of a kebab or the fact that you scanned the tail of long-tailed cock. Is that a fair assessment?

Wada：I like sculptures because of the homeliness and the fact that the process of its creation is evident. I prefer things that have marks of creation over mass-produced products. I'm frustrated that these marks are  being forgotten in the mass-consumption society.
At the same time, I want to tackle the problem sculpture is facing in the art world. Unlike two-dimensional artwork that can be folded, they are difficult to store and disposing them are costly. It is an art genre that has many demerits. I feel solving these problems with sculptures would make the genre more interesting. I want to pursue the answer to these problems.

W：When did you start to make sculptural works?

Wada：Although I made many artworks which were focused on the sculptory aspect of art recently, I'm not a sculptor. Its just that I create a lot of three-dimensional works. I use sculptures as materials. I don't create them I guess I became conscious of sculptures around the time when I created “Mt.Dove” and “WADA's Tasty Kebab.”

W：“Mt.dove” is an artwork you created by carving a mountain on piled bar soaps. Why did you decide to make a mountain with soaps?

Wada：Mountains are the largest substance as well as sculpture on earth. I wanted to create this huge mass as small as possible using a familiar material. I sort of wanted to change its substance. I also wanted to weigh a mountain, which usually cannot be done. Besides soaps, I made mountains out of fragrance balls. They're usually found in gentleman's lavatories. They are sculptures made out of wastes, when you consider the fact they are created when urine shaves off the fragrance balls. I thought it would be interesting if the result of that were mountains.


（from WHO005）