Yukari Art Contemporary
Artists Hideaki Shibata and Kazuya Matsunaga came together in 2003 as Yodogawa Technique to create works from the rubbish and miscellaneous objects found along Osaka's Yodogawa River. Working with discarded consumer goods and driftwood, the crafty duo made sculptural pieces that are like physical collages and that initially do not even appear as if they are made from garbage.
In the exhibition "Diamond Dust," showing at Yukari Art Contemporary gallery in Meguro Ward till Nov. 29, a closer look at "Black Porgy" — a scaled-down version of the fish they have come to be know for — reveals that it is made from thrown-away pens, electrical wires and plugs, video cables, lighters, patches of leather, safety razors, a hanko (ink stamp) and even a small rake that serves as its tail. Also on show are a fish with scales made from potato-chip bags, a cat made from white shards of plastic and a fly made of aluminum scraps.
The fresh breath of creativity and life Yodogawa Technique infuse into trash is inspiring. For Matsunaga, the activity is utopian in intention, hence the title "Diamond Dust" — from discarded shards he is creating beauty.
