Richard Hutten Exhibition “eVOLUTION oF oRDINARY oBJECT” was held at Trans Gallery in a quiet residential area of Ebisu. I lost my way to get this gallery but it was really worth to visit there. A cheerful and friendly owner welcomed my friend and me. The first floor was full of sunshine and I felt an openhearted feeling a lot there since the doors at the entrance were taken away. The basement floor was also a gallery space and I could enjoy of looking at works with my pace.

Richard Hutten “Stool Pants”

“Stool Pants” is Hutten’s new work and, art and fashion are united in this pair of pants. The original plan of this work came from a stool with a belt used by dairy farmers in Switzerland. As you can see from the photos above, the stool has been put on a pair of jeans. Since the big part of the stool is made of expanded polystyrene, the stool is lighter than it looks. And a wood is used in the point of the stool. I thought it would be hard to keep a balance to sit down with this stool but it was much comfortable than I expected. As if the stool were a part of my body, I could sit down everywhere with it. A film of Mitsunori Asakura, which featured the stool pants in the scenery of Tokyo, was running on the basement gallery space as well.

Richard Hutten Exhibition View

The furniture on the basement was painted in pastel colours or just original wooden colour was remained. I felt a gentle impression from them. The basic form of the furniture was simple but for example, several backs are put in one chair in a row or a cross is surrounded by chairs, every furniture seemed to give people a chance to enjoy with it in their own way.

Richard Hutten Exhibition View

On the other hands, the works on the first floor were in energetic vivid colours. These colours were shining in a bright space and just looking at them was enjoyable. Not only furniture, but also Hutten creates small cups for children, a fruit tray that looks like an egg case with gentle lines and I could felt Hutten’s warm heart.

The charm of Tokyo Designers Block is what people can enjoy arts at usual street corners or usual shops unlike going to a gallery with a nervous feeling “I am going to a gallery now!”. Compared to the time when the first Tokyo Designers Block was held, many works were gathered in one big place and I felt the advantage of having this massive event at many places within Tokyo got to be weak, unfortunately. It is sometimes anxious to hang around without decide where to go. However, it must be a small but nice surprise to come across arts unexpectedly on streets that this event presents us. I think this is the way of enjoying this fantastic event and I would like to keep this in my mind.

Tokyo Designers Block 2002
Date: October 10th – 14th, 2002
Area: Shinjuku, Aoyama, Nishiazabu, Shibuya, Daikanyama, Ebisu
http://www.tokyodesignersblock.com