A man came to Tokyo to sow “seed”. His name is Fabrice Hyber, is an artist representing France creates a lot of works about environment.
Now, “Seed and Grow“, an exhibition at WATARI-UM museum in Tokyo reveal what his “seed” is.

According to G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit and other social issues, to feature of ecology and environment is fashion. It is kind of dangerous to make “eco art” right now because it might be regard as just trendy. Fabrice said “I will seed ideas like I seed the forest. Several years ago, I made up my mind to create forest in France, I realized that I would do the same thing as I’d ever done in art.” . Like he said, his works should not be thought of the part of the ecological and environmental boom On the contrary, the recent movement might be the result of his art activities.

At the exhibition, the scarecrow shapes bear welcome you at the entrance and works follows such as MIT MAN, contains cauliflower’s head, avocado’s chest, green pepper and banana’s hip and cucumber legs(this is a vegetable man made by various vegetable to shape each body parts, collaborated with a scientist of Massachusetts Institute of Technology). Various drawings about experimental ideas of agriculture and projects of making honey bee in the city….most of his works’ relate with experiment, city, agriculture and environment.

In addition to the exhibition, “Art makes the town vegetable garden” project involved all across the Aoyama neighborhood. For instance, at the front of fashion store, you would see green soybeans in the flower bed beside the busy street a lots of car across, as well as aubergine fit to eat the field at the intersection. This fact surprised me.

By indicating the process of things, Fabrice Hyber has been giving viewers the opportunity to think of environment around you.
Like everyday’s meal and little border in the street from your home to station, to sharpen your sense to observe little things in your daily life is important. Thinking of your surrounding environment is connecting to other big issue. The exhibition reminds me that.

Fabrice Hyber “Seed and Grow”
Date: April 26th – August 31st, 2008
Hours: 11:00 – 19:00 (Wednesday till 21:00)
Place: Watari-um, The Watari Museum of Contemporary Art
Address: 3-7-6 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Tel: +81 (0)3 3402 3001
https://www.watarium.co.jp