Ginza Sony Park, the building is currently under construction for its January 2025 grand opening, was opened for a limited time between Tue, November 19 and Sun, December 1, 2024, for "ART IN THE PARK (Under Construction)," a program that explores the fusion between art and architecture. Over 10,000 people visited the park during the two-week period, with many visitors both from Japan and abroad enjoying the space in its current, very distinct moment in time. The three artists who featured in the program were those with close ties to Ginza Sony Park: Shun Sudo, Koji Yamaguchi, and Takuro Tamayama. What feelings were behind the works exhibited at the program? We asked the three artists about the background behind their works.
ART IN THE PARK (Under Construction)How Artists Are Using Ginza Sony Park Before Its Grand Opening
Shun Sudo
"A two-week art museum in the heart of Ginza"
- Q1: What was the deciding factor behind your participation in "ART IN THE PARK (Under Construction)?"
- When I saw the new Ginza Sony Park, I knew I wanted to show my works there. I think Sony is a brand that digs deep into the things they want to do, and gives shape to what it finds interesting. The fact that the company has created a park—this free, almost lab-like space—in this prime location, with all of its tall buildings, is a perfect example of this. I've spent my life drawing the pictures I want to draw, the way I want to draw them. So I love people who do what they love, like I do, and the things that these people create.
- Q2: Were there any messages you wanted to convey through your work, or any feelings you had while producing them?
- The theme was "Zephyr." In 2024, I traveled to a lot of different countries, including India, the U.S., Italy, France, the U.K., and Spain. I felt in my travels lights and shadows that were different from those in Japan, and a different sort of breeze at every destination. For this exhibit, I drew the comforting breeze that I felt in so many of these different places. My hope was that the exhibit itself would feel like a refreshing breeze.
- Q3: How did you feel when you saw your works actually exhibited (at the under-construction Ginza Sony Park)?
- The impression I got was of a two-week art museum in the heart of Ginza. It would make me happy if a lot of people are able to take in and enjoy this space.
Koji Yamaguchi
"Reconstructed the field of flowers on the wall art on the temporary construction fence as 12 oil paintings"
- Q1: What was the deciding factor behind your participation in "ART IN THE PARK (Under Construction)?"
- Normally, buildings are unveiled to the public after they're completed. But with this event, there were still areas that were under construction, and when i saw those inorganic concrete spaces, it occurred to me how interesting it would be if I could show some works with organic elements—that contrast between the organic and inorganic. That was the deciding factor for me.
- Q2: Were there any messages you wanted to convey through your work, or any feelings you had while producing them?
- For this exhibit, I reconstructed (reproduced) the field of flowers illustrated as wall art on the temporary construction fence in the form of 12 oil paintings. My goal was to fulfill one of the concepts of the Ginza Sony Park, having people feel real-life experiences, by exhibiting my works in this ephemeral, "under-construction" space. The field of flowers blooming in the under-construction Ginza Sony Park is a sight that will only be available here and now, so I hope a lot of people come to see it.
- Q3: How did you feel when you saw your works actually exhibited (at the under-construction Ginza Sony Park)?
- Unlike the pure white cube of a gallery, what you see depends on where you are—glimpses of colorful gerberas seen through the gaps in the construction scaffolding, and such. The contrast adds a lot of interest. I thought it was a very interesting idea to hold this kind of exhibition right in the heart of Ginza while the building is still under construction, and not yet complete.
Takuro Tamayama
"The idea of creating a work that feels as if it exists physically throughout a space"
- Q1: What was the deciding factor behind your participation in "ART IN THE PARK (Under Construction)?"
- The first work of art I saw that I felt gave shape to my ideas was "Static Lights," a work I showed at Sony Park Mini. Ginza Sony Park was where I came to understand clearly the concepts that I had spent so long thinking about, or the "something" that these works could create. When Ginza Sony Park was set up, with its sort of experimental functionality, I wanted to develop and show the same work in a way that felt integrated into the space. I had no idea what kind of building it would be, but I think I knew from the start that this kind of work would arise from this space.
- Q2: Were there any messages you wanted to convey through your work, or any feelings you had while producing them?
- I felt that the idea of creating a work that feels as if it exists physically throughout a space, and the openness of Ginza Sony Park could go hand in hand with one another. This work was less about very closely examining and working with a concept, and more about my current thoughts fitting naturally with the characteristics of this space—to the point where the idea came to me easily and organically.
- Q3: How did you feel when you saw your works actually exhibited (at the under-construction Ginza Sony Park)?
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I realized once again how much I value the kind of scale and "image" you can only get from something when you actually see it.
The concept for this work might be something you could easily create in VR or AR. But there are things like the dull glow of the frame around the fluorescent lights that you can't feel in a virtual space. I wanted visitors to be able to feel that sort of slight substance to the work. This experience reminded me of the importance of actually creating and showing material things. Thank you for this opportunity.
