Photograph by Martyn Gallina-Jones
"Komatsugawa Signboard Project" is carried out in collaboration with EARTH BASE, an organization established to support the handicapped person. This project is the artwork in which the photograph of Kyu's "Counting Sheep" performance in Times Square in 2011 is made into a signboard and installed on the main street in Komatsugawa, located on the east end of Tokyo. It is not only the area where he grew up, but also a vibrant city with many immigrants living there like New York, Through this project, he is attempting to critique the various borders that divide us in contemporary society, such as race, ideology, class, and economics. In this artwork, these borders are symbolically expressed through installation / photograph, resting sheep / active streets that never sleep, and Times Square / Tokyo. The photographs of sheep placed in the midst of the crowd convey the importance of "not losing oneself in this society" to the people who are trapped in borders. In addition, this artwork is also expressed his humor through the crossing of the border between commercialism and art.
Illustrated by Taeko Wakahara