Public Space and Public Art Participation In the eyes of many, our city is well-organised and planned. Facilities such as benches in parks, footbridge staircases, streets, alleyways and waterfront concrete are all neatly placed
and serve their functions. The culture of the city, taught from a young age, is to treat them
respectfully. But that also means we rarely think outside our habits and try to do something more interesting with them.
Having lived in Hong Kong during different periods, Taguchi is experienced in organising
unexpected participatory activities in the city’s public spaces. In 2016 he wove unwanted
T-shirts between fences and signposts across Hong Kong, using ordinary objects to fire
people’s imaginations and provide them with new experiences. When he returned in 2018
for the Spun Dragon project, he made use of mundane facilities like pavilions and benches in Tsuen Wan parks as temporary weaving studios.
The focus of the project lies not only in using public spaces, but also in unleashing them from their original functions and converting them into creative platforms, shaking up citizens’ fixed beliefs. While developing the project, Taguchi first thoroughly examined those areas, then
carried out assessment to design the public space as a vessel that could embody random, casual interventions from users.
The pivot to making art in public spaces takes into account the right to use these spaces of all stakeholders, and adopts a collective rather than a top-down approach to creation. It
relies on the creator’s ability to observe and embrace openness, showing enough care to every participant. Taguchi does not presume that art is everything, just part of life, one that
isn’t more important or special than others. Users of these spaces or passersby could choose to take part or to enjoy their own ways of being in these spaces. When he held activities, the
function and usual use of these spaces were respected: he made use of existing facilities and
his creativity to fuel events that naturally became part of the environment, without disturbing other stakeholders. With repeated, durational activities and a new practice is formed in
these spaces. The artist spent time there communicating with people about the thinking
behind his creative acts, giving them a chance to respond. If the feedback was negative, Taguchi would move elsewhere to continue his work.
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