Shiina Takehito　  Plastikosphere:　Clay-like Thinking

For many of us, clay is, along with crayon, the first medium for expression we had access to in our early childhood. Clay's ability to represent any form, allowing one to transform it flexibly and freely, is called plasticity. Although it is attractive, we tend to have fewer opportunities to be absorbed in playing with clay as we grow older. An artist who has a tie to Sendai, Shiina Takehito has maintained interest in clay's plastic nature and continued his creative activities centered on sculpting for over 20 years.

In the late 1990s, during the early stage of his activity, he constantly experimented with clay and various materials, such as everyday items and foods, to test their plasticity. The artist then began to see clay as a metaphor for irreversible time, inspired by the fact that clay, which changes its state freely depending on the amount of water content, loses plasticity when fired.
In the 2000s, Shiina began a series called Kazan-yaki, in which he took his sculptures to volcanoes, as if following the origins of clay, and bisque-fired them with the volcanic heat. It is believed to take tens of thousands to millions of years for a volcano-born rock to weather into clay. The object, clad in lava through volcano firing, symbolizes the plasticity cycle that extends near eternity. By using the volcano as a catalyst, Shiina transcends the human recognition of body and time, maintaining clay's characteristics on a conceptual level. One may say regarding not only this specific work that Shina's expression is an attempt to narrate the origins and causality of things by utilizing techniques for transformation.
In this exhibition, the outcome of Shiina's activities is arranged like a chronology, from his early works to The Twelve Divine Generals, the work he is producing at the moment of this writing. During the exhibition period, several works that have been lost in the past will be recreated in clay and then added to the exhibition, making the entire space Shiina's sphere of plasticity--a plastikosphere. The exhibition space is designed by a design team active in Sendai, KENCHIKU-Downers.

Having entered the 21st century and as our society becomes increasingly dependent on digital technologies, has it not lost tolerance and become inflexible pursuing "rightness" presented by numbers? Individuals are also increasingly typified based on big data, and we are all to be treated as standardized, numerical beings. In a society that seems to be losing its plasticity, Shiina's tactile explorations through trial and error remind us of the importance of not being bound by the right answer and that the form and weight of "self" are not mere numbers. Experience this by tracing Shiina's lengthy journey and by discovering his explorations.

Date: Saturday, 2 November 2024 - Monday, 13 January 2025

Hours: 11:00 - 20:00

*Closed 28　November and during the New Year's holiday (29　December-3　January)

Venue: sendai mediatheque 6F Gallery 4200

Admission: ¥500 (free for high school students and young children)

《Floater Kid》（2000）