慶應義塾大学アート・センター　Keio University Art Center

Shuzo Takiguchi (1903-1979) and Shusaku Arakawa (1936-2010) inspired each other in various ways. Soon after Arakawa's departure for the United States, the name Madeline Gins (1941-2014) was added to the list of letter senders, and their correspondence continued uninterrupted until Takiguchi's death. Takiguchi called his handmade book, which appeared to be both finished and unfinished, koushin-shi (correspondence-poem or correspondence-papers), and if we take this concept literally, it refers to the letters.

Among the letters from Arakawa/Gins to Takiguchi, there are a number of quasi-productions that go beyond the transmission of errands and updates through a series of letters, and use humor and witty methods to overuse letters, transforming them into a new medium. For example, they added a new message to an old postcard with a message superimposed on the text, or they added arrows or a few words to a printed image to create a new expression. Since these letters are very private media, they seem to make full use of a kind of esoteric language that only the sender and the receiver can understand. At the same time, however, they generate an open and dense “blank”. We regard the letters (correspondence-poem) as a site of collaboration, and aim to reconsider various issues between Takiguchi and Arakawa/Gins through the “blanks” that stir in the letters.

*This exhibition at KUAC, the exhibition "Correspondences and Hyōryūshi [Drifting-poetry]" at Toyama Prefectural Museum of Art and Design (Shuzo Takiguchi Collection Room) (November, 2024–February, 2025), and the symposium "Papier Plié 02: Correspondences between Shuzo Takiguchi and Shusaku Arakawa/Madeline Gins — Margin and Blank" at Keio University (December, 2024) shares the theme of “Letters”.
Currently, KUAC, ARAKAWA+GINS Tokyo Office, and Reversible Destiny Foundation are collaborating to research the letters sent by both artists, and this exhibition was based on this project.
 

Exhibition flyer: Download