yokohama triennale 08 artists preview

installation view of ‘aqui el espacio se transforma en tiempo’ at MUSAC leon, by cerith wyn evans, 2008

yokohama triennale: time crevasse at: various locations around yokohama, japan from: september 13th – november 30th 2008

the yokohama triennale is an international contemporary art exhibit which is the largest of its kind in japan. first held in 2001, the 2008 edition is its third run with the works of over 70 artists from around the world on show. the theme for this year’s triennale, ‘time’ was decided upon by artistic director tsutomu mizusawa. mizusawa sees time as something which flows along multiple axes but is not by itself, seen as a source of cultural or artistic enrichment. different aspects of time begin to collide with one each other to create unexpected openings in which hidden layers are revealed.

the artists weren’t only selected based on their abilities to emphasize the strength of the sense of time held by the other artists, but on the performance elements and expression of physicality in their work. the theme of time deals with deep matters of day-to-day sensitivity and can be seen as a crevasse in which physical expressions are pounded into its cracks. the projects being exhibited come from a diverse range from video, sculpture, installation, photography and painting and will feature many site-specific works which highlight the distinctive charms of the host city.

‘parts of a film with a rat and a bear’ by peter fischli & david weiss, 2008 photo © peter fischli & david weiss