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The final chapter of life

Asuka Zen

ASUKA ZEN will be holding her solo exhibition,”The final chapter of life” at CONTRAST from April 18th, Friday to 29th, Tuesday. ー I am creating my works based on my own personal experiences. In this exhibition, I engage in a profound reflection on my origins, revisiting the memories of my childhood spent at my father’s construction sites. My father was involved in numerous projects that contributed to urban development, and it purely was a great joy to witness the transformation of naked landscapes into thriving structures. The construction site became my playground. Now, I have projected construction process onto human experience. What have individuals been stacking on in their lives, and what visions of the future are they actively shaping? If the completed buildings and places symbolize the final destination of life, what defines the goals or completions, and I wonder what we could see in the view there. I aspire for this exhibition to provoke contemplation among viewers about your own journey, recognizing that we cannot deconstruct our lives in midway that there is no turning back. It is my intention to convey that “the final destination” is beautiful precisely because of the time and history that has been accumulated and enriched along the way, and I wish to prove that this is what life is all about. ー Date：4/18(Fri) - 29(Tue) Time：11:00 - 19:00 (Last day closes at 16:00) Opening：4/18(Fri) 17:00 - 20:00 Venue：CONTRAST Entrance：Free ー Organized by: LWArt Supported by : Kyowa Kogyo, Umezawa Construction, Vills, style

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The Crystallized Echo of Air Quotes

Takuto Ohta

CONTRAST is pleased to present the first solo exhibition of designer and artist Takuto Ohta "The Crystallized Echo of Air Quotes," from March 9 (Sun) to March 16 (Sun). In contemporary society, an invisible distance seems to exist between us and the world. From news and conspiracy theories to design, art, the clothes we wear, and even the water we drink—there is no definitive way to verify their essence. Amid an overwhelming flood of information, discerning truth has become increasingly difficult. Even the word “apple” raises questions—why is it called an "apple" and not something else? The deeper one delves, the more endless the labyrinth becomes. The term "Air Quotes" appeared within this vague sense of nihilism, drawing attention to its deeper implications. This hand gesture, used to indicate quoted speech, is often employed with irony or sarcasm. In a world where diverse values intersect and the meanings of words continue to fragment, what happens when we place " " around every concept? "Human," "Society," "Language," "Emotions," "War," "Peace," "Art," "Design," "Values"… By placing quotation marks around these words, Ohta challenges how we perceive and define them. This exhibition reinterprets the "language" inherent in both words and objects. Through photography, sculpture, and poetry, he presents a deeply personal response to the questions that arise in this process. Across three floors, distinct worlds unfold, offering a multilayered perspective within the space. ー Graphic Design：Ryunosuke Kikumura

Takuto Ohta

Born in France in 1993. Graduated from the Department of Craft and Industrial Design at Musashino Art University in 2017. Completed the Master’s Program in Design at Tokyo University of the Arts Graduate School of Fine Arts in 2022. Interested in the communication between objects and humans, he converts discoveries of new perspectives from daily observations into his artworks. Ota values fluidity in processes and ways of thinking and embraces multidimensional thoughts without adhering to specific fields. 2024 Imagining Satellites, DesignTIDE, Nihonbashi Mitsui Hall (Tokyo , Japan) 2024 Not Quite.., Parcel (Tokyo, Japan) 2023 Perspective of a Chair, Midtown Yaesu (Tokyo, Japan) 2023 Thinking Piece, DropCity (Milano, Italy) 2022 GEIDAI ARTS in Marunouchi 2022, (Tokyo, Japan) 2022 ADF Milano Salone Exhibition, Tortona 37 (Milano, Italy) 2022 Comit colbert award Exihibition 2022, Geidai Museum (Tokyo, Japan) 2021 ADF Milano Salone Exhibition, Tortona 37 (Milano, Italy)

    About CONTRAST
    In 2022, CONTRAST opened as a creative space in Yoyogi-Hachiman, Tokyo. The interior, based on a 45-year-old structure, consists of three floors under the concept of "reconstruction," and is managed by IN FOCUS, a digital branding studio that operates under the theme of "We propose new perspectives through a collective pursuit of digital excellence.". The space not only serves as its own creative space but also aims to be widely open to the public, providing a space for continuous and experimental reconstruction by its users, breaking free from limitations. Focusing on various forms of expression and encountering the creators who produce them, we will come to understand the importance of "CONTRAST = comparison" in our endeavors. Operated by IN FOCUS.In 2022, CONTRAST opened as a creative space in Yoyogi-Hachiman, Tokyo. The interior, based on a 45-year-old structure, consists of three floors under the concept of "reconstruction," and is managed by IN FOCUS, a digital branding studio that operates under the theme of "We propose new perspectives through a collective pursuit of digital excellence.". The space not only serves as its own creative space but also aims to be widely open to the public, providing a space for continuous and experimental reconstruction by its users, breaking free from limitations. Focusing on various forms of expression and encountering the creators who produce them, we will come to understand the importance of "CONTRAST = comparison" in our endeavors. Operated by IN FOCUS.

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