[Title] Spring is sprung
[Artist] Yuichi Higashionna
[Date] January 18 – March 27, 2007
The window displays of 2007 is opened by a collaboration with renowned artist Yuichi Higashionnna. The atmosphere in the space brims with the sheer energy of ronde, conjuring up vivid images of the awakening of the spring season.
As the cold winter months come to a close, and spring arrives at last, the heart soars and the spirits grow giddy. Emerging within the windows is a fantasy world in which, as the warmth of this renewal sets in, dolls also awaken and begin to dance. Featured are visual renditions of ceramic music boxes, onto which are projected the separate silhouettes of a ballerina and a couple dancing the waltz. These images, which expand against a white cloth background, illustrate the joyful dance of the dolls at the revival of spring.
All products are either displayed on turntables or suspended in midair using motors, while being rigged to rotate in unison with the dolls. The flooring has been fashioned by piecing together sections of old wood, in a design that succeeds in generating a truly natural and casual sense of warmth.
There are also fluorescent lights lined up on the walls, and projection equipment on the floor – presences which are explicitly underscored in both cases. This rates as yet another strategic touch, in keeping with the sense of liberation from the tension of winter, helping to paint the warm and relaxing mood so inherent in the return of spring.
Backdrop colors will change throughout the display period, with the products also scheduled for replacement hand in hand with this cycle. The dancing images of shoes, bags and hats will function to intensity the spotlight on the richness and beauty intrinsic in each Hermès product creation. For the smaller windows, fashioned to differ in appearance, the goal is to also mirror the main window with vivid color tones, while likewise conveying the fun and festive sense of “spring is sprung” in the air. The smaller windows, finally, feature antique stuffed toys and dolls – all handpicked by the artist expressly for this staging.
Yuichi Higashionna
Born in 1951 in Tokyo, where he lives today. Graduate of Tama Art University, Department of Painting. From the early 1990s, Higashionna embarked on a quest to create works that reflect the eeriness lurking in the everyday (in some ways a salute to the vision of Sigmund Freud). Renowned creations include fluorescent chandeliers, floral paintings and exceptional achievements in other genres. He is scheduled to participate in the “Roppongi Crossing” exhibition (Mori Art Museum) in the fall of 2007.