Curatorial Statement Craft, material, space and art – when all of them come together, what we get is something
like Taguchi Yukihiro’s artistic practice, which always concerns people and their lives. Spun
Dragon is Taguchi’s collaborative project for CHAT’s 2018 Summer Programme, CHAT Go! Let’s Build a Textile Village. In creating it, he has provided a sound example of how
contemporary artists can facilitate co-creation with community groups and members of the
public. By juggling art and craft, individual and collective, contemporary and participatory art, he achieves a point of equilibrium.
Origin Taguchi spent three months in Hong Kong in 2016 as part of our Artist-in-Residence
programme. In his 2008 stop-motion video work Moment: Performatives Spazieren there are traces of how he observes and interprets mundane objects in daily life through
deconstruction and reconstruction. His approach challenged common perceptions of public spaces and objects, and even inspired an interesting shift in our perspective as we try to
understand the city.
In line with his lively, humourous character, when he came to Hong Kong in 2016 Taguchi
explored streets and public facilities across the city, weaving in districts including To Kwa
Wan, Wan Chai, Tsuen Wan and Happy Valley. Signposts, railings and canopies became
his creative sites, where unwanted clothes were torn into strips and weaved. During
the residency he developed new possibilities for weaving in public spaces, as well as
encouraging the donation of recycled clothes for participatory activities.
Recollection Two years after Taguchi’s exploration of and experimentation in Hong Kong, he decided to
return with an artwork that would become part of people’s lives. Art doesn’t only happen
inside museums and galleries; Taguchi believes it to be for everyone: participatory,
progressive and experiential. He thought of creating a mythical Asian creature, Spun Dragon, through members of the public weaving. The outcome is not the main concern in any participatory art project; what matters is the openness of the creative platform, so that it can
include the efforts of participants from diverse backgrounds.
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