Over the Continents: Chiharu Shiota

For her latest installation, Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota reached out to the public to amass nearly 400 individual shoes accompanied by personal notes of memories associated with those shoes. In a monumental yet intimate installation Shiota uses almost 4 miles of red yarn to tie the shoes together and connect them all at a single point. The notes invite visitors “to consider the life of an object” and “the fundamental ties that connect humans to one another.”

Over the Continents,” a recreation of an earlier work from 2004, is on display at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery pavilion in Washington DC through June 7, 2015.

Over the Continents: Chiharu Shiota

Chiharu Shiota will be representing Japan in next year’s 56th Venice Biennale and you can be part of it. In her own words, she needs a “huge number of keys” and is looking for public donations of keys no longer needed. If you plan on visiting the Sackler you can drop off your key through December 12, 2014.

Over the Continents: Chiharu Shiota

the note reads: “These shoes were purchased 3 years ago. At the time he had just turned 4 and I had bought him a bike. He wore these shoes and practiced riding.”

Over the Continents: Chiharu Shiota

Over the Continents: Chiharu Shiota

Over the Continents: Chiharu Shiota

Over the Continents: Chiharu Shiota