tatzu nishi

tatzu nishi is a japanese installation artist best known for transforming historical monuments by surrounding a statue or building site with inhabitable domestic spaces. nishi's urban interventions include carefully constructed fabricated hotels and dwellings around historical monuments in europe, australia, singapore and america. the artist's temporary spaces are designed to transform the bystander’s interaction with common monuments or architectural details. the result is two-fold: on one hand, an 'instant sculpture' appears in a private space, and on the other, that same piece disappears from the public sphere. this dramatic shift from public to private creates an encounter with the sculpture that is both fascinating and uncanny. projects include a living room for the christopher columbus statue in new york and a hotel room for the monument of queen victoria in liverpool.