In addition to Shigeo Toya’s wooden chainsaw sculptures, also participating in the ShugoArts group show is Teppei Kaneuji. The 35-year old artist is known for his found-object assemblages in which we uses things like plastic toys, scissors and helmets glued together in interesting arrangements. He’s also been known to pour white resin over his sculptures, creating empty whited-out spaces.
Kaneuji likes to establish small rules for himself when working on a new piece. Teenage Fan Club is a particularly interesting series that probably began with the rule, “only use removable hair from figurines.” Using the colorful hair of figurines like anime characters, nurses and superheros, Kaneuji creates new superheros that embody traces of their past selves.
“I don’t feel you can state unequivocally that only stuff made from scratch is any good,” says Kaneuji, defending the realm of found object art, which is often criticized for being pretentious. “There are so many interesting things around us, there have to be ways to use them, and failing to do so is to my mind, unnatural. There’s a certain pleasure to be gained from the process, such as when different parts fit well together.”
