Highlights / Artists
DIY (Do It Yourself)
Living as Making
DIY (Do It Yourself) is an approach to problem-solving that relies on one’s own skills and creativity. It is commonly practiced in day-to-day settings, from woodworking and home repairs to resident-led community initiatives. While DIY is a tool to make life improvements, it is also a strategy to overcome obstacles and hardship. These processes may evoke “pleasures in making,” such as new insights gained from hands-on work or a sense of accomplishment.
This exhibition features the works of four solo artists, one artist duo, and two teams of architects who engage with the methods and ethos of DIY. In addition to artworks created with everyday objects and inclusive spaces designed for a diverse audience, the show highlights the means of survival people have devised when forced onto sites without basic necessities, whether due to earthquake disasters or financial circumstance. The themes of this exhibition invite viewers to consider the connections between an intuitive, self-reliant DIY practice and the act of living.
Featured Artists (in Exhibition Order) : Kurumi Wakaki, Natsumi Seo, Kengo Noguchi, Dunhill and O’Brien, Taku Hisamura, Akihiro Ito Architects, studiomegane architects
Highlights
1. Delve into the “pleasure in making”
through the lens of DIY
Artists, architects, people living outside, disaster survivors – through their DIY practices, the show explores the link between human creativity and the act of living.
2. Experience a wide range of works
by four solo artists, one artist duo, and two teams of architects
Artists working with the methods and ethos of DIY create diversely expressive spaces with prints, drawings, texts, photography, films, installations and more.
3. Engage in participatory artworks
Interactive pieces in the exhibition invite viewers to think about DIY practices and experience hands-on participation. In addition to viewing, the show can be enjoyed through making, discussing, and deep thinking.
Artist Profiles (in Exhibition Order)
Kurumi Wakaki
Born 1985 in Hokkaido. Wakaki majored in Printmaking at Kyoto City University of Arts. After graduation, she developed a wide range of works including installations and performances in which she prints with her own body, expanding the bounds of printmaking as a technique. In 2009, she became the youngest recipient of the Taro Okamoto Award for Contemporary Art. In recent years, she has returned her focus to burnishing–a motion specific to printmaking–and repurposes everyday items such as empty cans and tubes of toothpaste to make her plates. In this exhibition, Wakaki presents experimental prints that create new images from familiar objects primarily found in the artist’s home.
Biography
2008
Graduated with a B.F.A. in Printmaking from Kyoto City University of Arts
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2012
“Beneath the Wheel” (Gallery Jin)
2014
“Wakaki Kurumi no Seisakudojo” (Sakamoto Zenzo Museum of Art)
2018
“Outdoors” (MORITAKA art gallery)
“Han-Run!” (Toyama Prefectural Museum of Art & Design TAD Gallery)
2020
“Couse Lost” (FINCH ARTS)
2022
“Nami-hanga” (KOTO ART ZONE KAGURAOKA)
2024
“Arts and Culture Village Creation vol.6 ‘Restoration Myself’” (Nara Prefecture Historical and Artistic Culture Complex)
Selected Group Exhibitions
2017
“Socially Engaged Art: New Trends In Art That Moves Society” (3331 Arts Chiyoda)
2019
“Go Somewhere!” (Embassy of Japan in Canada)
2021
“Kyoto Art for Tomorrow 2021 – Selected Up-and-coming Artists Exhibition” (The Museum of Kyoto)
2023
“Transcend Boundaries: The Artists of the Taro Award III” (Taro Okamoto Museum of Art, Kawasaki)
Awards
2009
The 12th OKAMOTO Taro Prize
2013
Rokko Meets Art Grand Prize
2021
The Best Young Artist Award by City of Kyoto
Kurumi Wakaki, CAN-BERU SUPU, 2024, Print made with an empty can, Collection of the Artist
Kurumi Wakaki, Tube Cut Open - Snow Crab 2 (printing plate and process), 2024, Print made with an ointment tube, Collection of the Artist
Photo: Hiroshi Ikeda
Natsumi Seo
Photo: Hiroshi Ikeda
Born 1988 in Tokyo. Seo is a painter and writer whose work examines records of landscapes and languages specific to a region and its people. She began working with filmmaker Haruka Komori in 2011 after volunteering to support recovery efforts following the Great East Japan Earthquake. From 2012 onwards, she lived in Rikuzentakata, Iwate for three years creating artwork and spaces to promote dialogue. In 2015, Seo formed the collective NOOK to document activities conducted in collaboration with the land in Sendai, Miyagi. She currently runs studio04 in Koto, Tokyo, while also managing a collaborative project titled Karoku Recycle, which researches archives of past disasters and explores modes of expression based on the documentation. In this exhibition, Seo presents drawings, paintings, and texts that capture the lives of people who hold memories of disasters.
Biography
2011
Graduated with a B.F.A. in Inter-Media Art Department from Tokyo University of the Arts
2014
Graduated with an M.F.A. in Oil Painting from the Graduate School of Fine Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2015
“Criterium 91” (Art Tower Mito)
2019
“Fukei kara uta” (Gallery TURNAROUND)
“Awai yuku koro” (Tohoku Research-based Art Center)
Selected Group Exhibitions
2012
“Artists and Disaster | Documentation in Progress” (Art Tower Mito) *
2015
“VOCA 2015” (The Ueno Royal Museum)
2016
“Standing on the Earth, Looking up into the Sky – Contemporary Artists’ View of Landscapes” (Gunma Museum of Art, Tatebayashi)
2017
“YOKOHAMA TRIENNALE 2017 ‘Islands, Constellations & Galapagos’ ” (Yokohama Museum of Art)
2019
“Group Show of Contemporary Artists 2019 – Past, Present, Future - Like Imagining a Constellation” (Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum)
2021
“Memories Penetrate the Ground and Permeate the Wind” (Tokyo Photographic Art Museum) *
2023
“Collection Highlights + Collection Relations [Guest Artists: Komori Haruka + Seo Natsumi]” (Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art) *
＊Exhibited as Komori Haruka + Seo Natsumi
Selected Publications
2019
Awai Yuku Koro: Rikuzentakata, Shinsai-go wo Ikiru – Shobunsha (Single-authored)
2021
Nijuu no Machi / Koutaichi no Uta – Shoshikankanbou (Single-authored)
2022
10-nenme no Shuki – Ikinobiru Books (Co-authored)
2023
New Habitations – yyy press (Co-authored)
Koe no Chisou: Saika to Itami wo Kataru Koto – Ikinobiru Books (Single-authored)
Natsumi Seo, Blooming, underground, 2015, Drawing, Collection of the Artist
Natsumi Seo, Double-layered town, 2015, Drawing, Collection of the Artist
Kengo Noguchi
Born 1984 in Kanagawa. Photographer. After completing his studies at the Graduate School of Fine Arts at Tokyo University of the Arts, Noguchi began making work in photography and film, capturing diverse subjects such as people living outside, backpackers, pilgrims, Tibetan refugees in India, and families in remote villages affected by the April 2015 Nepal earthquake. In this exhibition, Noguchi presents the series The Ten Foot Square Hut, which captures people living on the margins of Japanese cities. The piece focuses both on the lives of the hut occupants and the state of the self-built structures made of familiar materials like blue tarp and scrap wood.
Biography
2008
Graduated with a BA from the Department of Contemporary Culture and Society, Faculty of Sociology, Rikkyo University
2013
Graduated with an M.F.A. in Inter-Media Art from the Graduate School of Fine Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2015
“Live Your Own Life” (Bright Photo Salon)
2016
“Family Affair” (Shinjuku Nikon Salon, Osaka Nikon Salon)
“Your Life Is Not Your Own” (Koganecho Area Management Center)
2019
“The Ten Foot Square Hut 2010-2019” (Ginza Nikon Salon, Osaka Nikon Salon)
2020
“Along The Way” (epSITE Gallery)
Selected Group Exhibitions
2012
“MEC Award 2012 Selected Works Exhibition” (SKIP City Sainokuni Visual Plaza Visual Museum)
“The 7th Photography ‘1_WALL Competition’ Exhibition” (Guardian Garden)
“Guimarães nocnoc 2012” (Plataforma das Artes Guimarães, Portugal)
2013
“HUMONIUM vol.2” (Auditorium Shibuya)
2015
“Photo Fure NEXT PROJECT 2015 Slideshow” (Higashikawa International Photography Festival)
2021
“all in good time” (DIGINNER GALLERY)
2022
“YOSHINO ART CONNECT” (Spiral)
Selected Publications
2025
The Ten Foot Square Hut , Akaaka Art Publishing, Inc
Awards & Grants
2015
Grand Prize, BRIGHT PHOTO AWARDS 2015
2016
Grants for Overseas Study, Pola Art Foundation (India)
2017
Grants for Overseas Study, Yoshino Gypsum Art Foundation (USA)
Kengo Noguchi, The Ten Foot Square Hut, Kita-ku Yokohama Kanagawa, 2012, Photography, Collection of the Artist
Kengo Noguchi, The Ten Foot Square Hut, Shibuya-ku Tokyo, 2011, Photography, Collection of the Artist
Photo: Andrew Watson
Dunhill and O'Brien
Photo: Andrew Watson
Based in London, artist duo Dunhill and O’Brien have worked together since 1998. The dilemmas and possibilities of collaboration continue to drive their curiosity to make work that surprises and challenges them. The quest to bypass their individual taste and their preoccupation with the troubling logistics of sculpture has driven them to work with devices, kinetic apparatus, performative actions, and participants. In this exhibition they present a multipart installation that sets out to explore and disrupt the boundaries of Sculpture and DIY.
Biography
1977
Graduated with MA in Sculpture from the Royal College of Art (Mark Dunhill)
1988
Graduated with MA in Sculpture from Chelsea School of Art (Tamiko O’Brien)
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2005
“Sculptomatic 2” (Kunstvereniging Diepenheim, Holland)
2014
“Sorry No, Yes And” (Youkobo Art Space, Tokyo)
2016
“Rockery” (White Conduit Projects, London)
2019
“Terms & Conditions” (Airspace Gallery, for the British Ceramics Biennial)
2022
“Modern Object” (Postroom Gallery, London)
2023
“Reverse Homesickness” (Das Weisse Haus, Vienna, (with Kristaps Ancans))
Selected Group Exhibitions
2016
“Complex Topography” (Ritsurin Garden Museum)
2017
“Concrete + Clay” (Room Art Space, London)
2017
“A Bird in the Head” (Danielle Arnaud Gallery, London)
2018
“A Concentration of Power” (Joost van den Bergh Gallery, London)
2019
“Carl Plackman and His Circle” (Pangolin, London)
2023
“Bad Ideas” (Talinn Art Hall, Estonia)
Awards
2002
British Council supported residency European Ceramic Work Centre (EKWC)
2003
Rome Scholarship Award, residency at the British School at Rome
2007
Arts Council, DAJF, and GBS awards for residency at Youkobo, Tokyo
2019
Arts Council award for exhibition at Airspace Gallery, Stoke on Trent
Dunhill and O’Brien, Apparatus: Moore’s Mallet V1, 2024, Collection of the Artist
Dunhill and O’Brien, STONE APPRECIATION (detail), 2018, Collection of the Artist
Taku Hisamura
Born 1977 in Tokyo. Hisamura graduated from the Department of Sculpture at Tama Art University. While seeking emotional and physical lightness in his practice after developing hernia, he began actively incorporating craft supplies and other DIY techniques and materials situated on the periphery of art. Making modifications with a hesitant touch, he produces work that questions the existing systems and formations of the art world. In this exhibition, Hisamura presents his handcrafted wearable sculptures and benches created in the style of readymades with manufactured products integrated into the pieces as decoration.
Biography
2001
Graduated with B.F.A. from the Department of Sculpture at Tama Art University
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2012
“Existing there without appearing to be” (3331 GALLERY)
2016
“Homemade Sculpture” (AI KOWADA GALLERY)
2020
“Repeat Play” (NADiff Window Gallery)
2021
“One Point Sculptures” (GALLERY ROOM・A)
2022
“One Point Sculptures” (SOMSOC GALLERY)
2024
“Handy Craft Art Center” (GALLERY KAWAMATSU)
Selected Group Exhibitions
2015
“26th UBE Biennale” (Ube Tokiwa Museum)
2018
“Dogo Onsenart 2018” (Dogo Onsen and its surroundings)
2019
“On the Verge of Fiction” (Kuandu Museum, Taipei)
2021
“Renew - LAB to begin in the future” (Art Laboratory Hashimoto)
2022
“Organizing Daily Life” (Hajimari Art Center)
2024
“Transcendence” (Sansiao Gallery HK, Hong Kong)
Awards
2011
Hierher Dorthin, Grand Prize
2015
3331 Art Fair 2015, Bijutsu Techo Prize
2022
WATOWA ART AWARD 2022, Noboru Tsubaki Prize
2024
ARTISTS’ FAIR KYOTO 2024 Mynavi ART AWARD, Excellence Award
Taku Hisamura, Embroidery Bar / Weaving Bar at Geidai Beya, 2024, Installation, Collection of the Artist
Taku Hisamura, PLUS_Ralph Lauren_yellow striped shirt, 2025, Embroidery on shirt and appliqué, Collection of the Artist
Illustration: Yuko Ohara
Akihiro Ito Architects
Illustration: Yuko Ohara
First-class licensed architectural design office based in Nagano. Ito takes on a wide range of projects that foster new relationships within a region’s milieu and ways of living, centered on an architectural framework. Past work includes surveys and utilization of abandoned houses, promotion of local craftsmanship (urushi lacquer art, woodworking), production of handcrafted items, and self-sufficient production of agricultural crops and lumber. Notable projects include Architectural School, Asata House, and Narai Tooichi. In this exhibition, Akihiro Ito Architects collaborates with the Tama-based studiomegane architects to design a platform for visitors to engage with the show’s themes.
Biography (Akihiro Ito)
2000
Graduated from Bunka Fashion College
2007
Graduated with B.A. from Sustainable Project Major at Tokyo Zokei University
2007-2010
Worked at Architectural Design Office A-ASTERISK (Shanghai)
Activities & Achievements
2013
Selected as a finalist in the “Osaka City Kizu River Promenade Design Competition”
2014
Excellence Award in the “JIA Kanagawa Architecture WEEK Yokohama Architecture Festival 2014 Tea Room Design Competition"
2017
Participated in "Architects of the Year 2017 – 'Ekkyo Project'" (Gallery Nipponbashi House)
2018
Featured in Bessatsu KURA
2018
Published in Architectural Design 06 ‘Ekkyo-project wo motomete’
2022
Opened Narai Tooichi
2023
Passed the first screening of the "Onagawa Town Coastal Plaza Private Cabin Design Competition"
Architectural School
Narai Tooichi
studiomegane architects
First-class licensed architectural design office, located on a shotengai (shopping street) in Tama New Town. Together with local residents and cultural workers in art and design, the team self-organizes STOA, an inclusive alternative space, using a part of their office that is open to the public. STOA aims to be an accessible cultural hub that intentionally remains unfinished and adapts in response to the needs of the community. Additionally, it attempts to provide a place free of the pressures of consumption, where visitors can wander in and become immersed in deep thought. In this exhibition, studiomegane architects collaborates with the Nagano-based Akihiro Ito Architects to design a platform for visitors to engage with the show’s themes.
Activities & Achievements
2018-2020
Organized "Architecture Snack" with sociologist Atsushi Miura
2017
Featured in Jutaku Tokushu December 2017 Issue
2018
Featured in LIFULL HOME'S PRESS
Featured in Shinkenchiku September 2024 Issue
Featured in Atsushi Miura’s book Buy a House for 1 Million Yen and Work 3 Days a Week (Kobunsha Shinsho)
2020
Grand Prize (Community Award) in the 31st Green Environment Plan Award by Dai-ichi Life Foundation (in collaboration with Keisen Jogakuen)
2023
The 9th "Korekara no Kenchiku-shi" Award
2024
Grand Prize in the Shinkenchiku Residential Design Competition
A day at STOA (Tama, Tokyo)
Renovation in progress at STOA in Shodoshima