[Title] Remembrance
[Artist] Tokujin Yoshioka
[Date] September 21 – November 14, 2006
Working with the theme “Paris in the Air,” Japanese designer Tokujin Yoshioka has produced his own poetic rendering of the concept. These windows do not exhibit the direct idea of “air”, but rather seek expression via the function of “remembrance.” Portrayed here is not a faithful interpretation of the intricate mechanisms of the brain, but a form of “memory” that is grasped in sheer sensory images.
The process of “remembering” may be identified as a consciousness of filling up each one of an infinite number of “vacant vessels” with separate elements. Based on that image, Yoshioka mobilized a total of some 300,000 highly transparent straws to shape these windows. The function of the straws draws entirely from their hollow shape, with the lightness in weight, as well as the simple and pure design, fusing into a vehicle for expressing the individual vessels. These progressive forms, totally original in their mixture of a countless number of straws, show off our Paris-born products in a soaring sensation. At other moments, the pieces are presented as being nestled in the richly flowing background. The windows symbolize Parisian moments that dwell in the minds of visitors to the French capital. Upon visits, the memories are certainly not limited to the sights taken in, with smelling, touching, and all other senses likewise mingling and contributing to recollections of the ambience. Then, even after the trip concludes, the specific remembrances are drawn out of the vessels – continuing to rouse memories.
These windows feature one change in product displays. In each case, the number of products is kept low, to underscore the charisma of single creations. Within the renewal of Maison Hermès, the timing also calls for a display of “l’air de Ginza” scarf. Here, the straw creations are transformed into a myriad of forms, blessing visitors with a prosaic dimension combined of different expressions for each of the two facelifts.
Tokujin Yoshioka
Born in 1967. After graduating from Kuwasawa Design School, launched the Tokujin Yoshioka Design Office in 2000. At the 2005 Milano Salone, Yoshioka unveiled his “Pane,” an original chair created in the pleasantly swelling image of baked bread. He also enjoys a keen following for his use of an incredible sum of 700 kilometers of clear fiber in coordinating “Lexus” showroom space.