‘Play-Anima’ series by shigeki yamamoto

 

Berlin-based designer Shigeki Yamamoto releases the ‘PLAY Anima’ series of decoration objects during Dutch Design Week 2022. On view at Piet Hein Eek, his latest creations reference childhood memories, but this time Yamamoto has used leftover pieces from his previous furniture projects. Each piece has been custom-made and carries the spirit and memory of his older work. Additionally, the objects pay homage to the Buddha artisans’ techniques with hand-carved surfaces, which create a more lively appearance and provide a closer work experience with the materials: wood and linseed oil paint.

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the PLAY ANIMA 2022 coated in red linseed paint, size: 21x21x21 cm (8.3×8.3×8.3 inch)

all images courtesy of Shigeki Yamamoto

 

 

RECALLING past memories and giving new life to used pieces

 

To underline a natural approach, Shigeki Yamamoto (more here) chose to coat the hand-carved wooden pieces with linseed oil paint, which is made of all natural ingredients. By doing so, the decoration objects appear glossy and vibrant, enabling them to bring life to their new environment. Furthermore, PLAY Anima is reminiscent of Yamamoto’s previous works and expresses the carefree creativity of his childhood.

 

His aim is to invoke good memories and imagination in other people through his designs, as he believes some part of an artist’s energy is also present in their work. Moreover, he believes that any physical object eventually loses its material value and grows in emotional attachment. ‘They act as a vault full of memories and emotions, which connects us to important episodes of our lives that other people can’t directly experience,’ Yamamoto notes.

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a blue play anima piece (35x16x21 cm, 13.8×6.3×8.36 inch)

 

 

spiritual energy within each object

 

As believed in Japan, artisans that create Buddha statues transfer some of their energy onto the statue while they carve it. Although Yamamoto’s PLAY Anima series are not religious objects, he believes that his work is not merely physical and each piece carries some of the spirit of his previous works. The PLAY Anima Project focuses on used objects that have either been abandoned or are no longer capable of fulfilling their original purposes, therefore out of respect for their history, the designer gave them new meaning and new homes. For instance, one of the upscaled decorative pieces became a vase that Yamamoto believes will be a container for new memories and emotions. 

 

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yellow (30x30x30 cm, 11.8×11.8×11.8 inch)

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green (40x15x25 cm, 15.7×5.9×9.8 inch)

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black (30x11x25 cm, 11.8×4.3×9.8 inch)

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gold (6x30x44 cm, 2.4×11.8×17.3 inch)

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a structure for a vase using oak and beech wood and coated with linseed red oil paint (64x30x60 cm, 25.2,11.8,23.6 inch)

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project info:

 

name: PLAY Anima
designer:  Shigeki Yamamoto

 

 

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

 

edited by: zaha mango | designboom