Yasuhiro Suzuki has a penchant for re-envisioning the ordinary as extraordinary
I’ve had a long-time art crush on Yasuhiro Suzuki, a young artist (32) who has a penchant for re-envisioning the ordinary as extraordinary. His subject matter is often banal – a traditional toy, a zipper or a tree stump. In the most literal sense, Yasuhiro Suzuki is devoted to the design of daily life.
So I was excited to hear he had a new book out covering some of his recent works. Blinking and Flapping encompasses works that were on display at Suzuki’s major retrospective, which took place late last year at the Hamamatsu Museum of Art.
The gorgeous book is now on sale through Amazon Japan (2,625 yen) – they ship overseas!
Here are a few of my favorite projects from the retrospective last year:
(click images to enlarge)
Apple Kendama
In this playful and somewhat nostalgic piece, the traditional kendama toy gets a makeover with a bright red apple.
Ginkaku-ji Chocolate
The “Temple of the Silver Pavilion” gets a silver wrapping and a sweet filling.
Talk about good taste!
Blinking Clock (left) and Bucket Stump (right)
Spoon Sand Watch
A poetic timepiece that replaces the hourglass with a kitchen utensil.
Blinking Leaves
An installation of leaves with open and closed eyes printed on the front and back. They blink as they flutter down. Magical!
Ship of the zipper
This is my absolute favorite piece. Suzuki created a boat-shaped zipper based on a model he had done back in 2004. The waves it created as it drove across the inland sea created the teeth of the zipper. How cool is that!? I bet Moses never thought of using a zipper to part the sea. (be sure to check out the video below)
