[Title] BACK IN THE POOL
[Artist] HITOTZUKI
[Date] September 20,2013-November 12, 2013
With the arrival of the cool breezes of autumn, the merrymaking and festivities of the days of summer fade into the depths of the memory. When the water is drained from a swimming pool, the scene of lively frolicking throughout the summer months, fallen leaves cover the surface and rapidly cast the surroundings into a hushed silence. In no time at all, however, moves are quietly afoot to restore the richly exuberant sensations. For those no longer finding satisfaction in common, everyday locations, such forgotten spots possess potential to reemerge as optimum playground venues.
This latest Maison Hermès window display, a striking symbol of early autumn, seizes on the bottom of a dynamically painted swimming pool as its backdrop. The painted images, the work of the Japanese artists KAMI and SASU (together comprising the creative unit HITOTZUKI), are immaculately fashioned to fit the pool’s smooth contours. They fuse with the ambience generated by the distinctive curves, and have the potential to playfully distort the perspective of the viewer. Ultimately portrayed is a harmony born of a sense of speed and improvisation, as if on a quest to conquer the street sports scene. Lingering against this background, are two men. One seems set to commence the pool wall mural work at any moment. The other sits on the edge of the pool, a glass in hand, speaking to his companion. A pair of pumps, meanwhile, is visible poolside, suggesting a female presence. Beneath the glowing sunset, played out in keen concert with the shade of the floral pattern symbolically depicted on the pool walls, the time passed by the pair in this setting is relaxed and mature, worlds apart from any dimension of noisy and boisterous play.
Appearing in the small window, beyond the velvety curves of a cloud formation, are human silhouettes and painting tools that is lightheartedly used to display Hermès products. This scene conjures up images of the plentiful opportunities for play, literally lying in wait within the casual passage of everyday life.
The skyline of the storefront windows is covered with large clouds, manifesting the genus of landscapes often found in fairytales or other stories emerging from the depths of the imagination. This is as if to allude that such fleeting moments may indeed also be recollections of times already gone by, returning to mind as the autumn season draws to a close.
HITOTZUKI
An artistic collaboration formed in 1999 by KAMI and SASU, the professional names of two artists renowned as muralists, aimed at expanding the stage for creativity rooted in the dimension of street culture. Their distinctive worldview stems from the fluid interaction between the dynamically flowing curves fashioned by KAMI, and the strong and flamboyant symmetric motifs engineered by SASU. This vision breaths new life into the sense of beauty derived from the street, and has succeeded in invigorating the era with a steady stream of vivid new landscapes. The pair views art as lying in the domains of their everyday lives, and while based in Tokyo, continues to lead a lifestyle interspersed with creative journeys around Japan and to overseas destinations.