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布をくちゃくちゃと咀嚼し続けている。そんなイメージが浮かんだ。

なぜここまで布に執着するのか。自分でもよくわからない。

私は意味のない布を織っている。それは存在する意味がないというより、本来の用途や意味付けされた装飾がないということである。

用途や意味を取り払った織物から何かを見出すことは、物事が持っている性質や側面を自分なりに再定義することだと言えるのではないか。

しばらく経って、「一つの織物の中で何ができるか？」と考えがシンプルになってきた。

それは私の制作の原点といえるスタンスであり、広がりすぎた自分の欲や脇道に外れつつあった動機を改めることになった。

寄り道をして、結局は最初に戻ってきてしまったが、これはこれで良いかもしれない。　

「あそぶ」ことはルールや縛りがあった方が楽しい場合もある。

自由に遊んでいいよ、と言われると何をすればいいか分からなくなってしまったりする。

そんな時は「白線の上しか歩いちゃだめ」みたいなルールを決めると途端に面白みが出てくる。

今回は一つの布として完結させるというルールを決め、シンプルに織物そのものに向き合うことにした。

We are pleased to have Rentaro Kawamoto Solo Exhibition One from Saturday, 21st October  through Friday, 10th November.

Kawamoto creates his works by weaving cloth from old clothes, towels, and other unused fabrics that have been torn. The old cloth has some kind of history, such as how it was made, the memories of its original owner, the place where it was used, and the purpose for which it was used.

For this exhibition, Kawamoto created his work from the starting point of his own pure attraction to cloth. He focused on the material aspect of the cloth, such as its properties, texture, and materiality, not to give it any use or meaning, but to highlight the existence of the cloth itself.

The title of the exhibition, One, is derived from the rule that Kawamoto decided to “complete the work as a single piece of cloth. It can also be taken as One meaning “being unique” or One meaning “identified but anonymous”. Also, One may represent Kawamoto himself, a person who is able to genuinely play with something.

Rentaro Kawamoto’s Statement

I am chewing the cloth. Such an image came to my mind.

Why am I so obsessed with cloth? I don’t understand it myself.

I weave meaningless cloth. It is not so much that there is no meaning to its existence, but rather that it has no original use or meaningful decoration.

To find something in a textile that has been stripped of its usage and meaning might be to redefine in my own way the nature and aspects that things have.

After a while, the idea became simple. ‘What can I do with one weave?’

It was a stance that could be called the starting point of my creation, and it led me to revise my motives, which had been getting sidetracked and my own greed, which had spread too far.

I took a detour and ended up back at the beginning, which is probably a good thing.

Sometimes playing is more fun when there are rules and restrictions. If you are told that you can play freely, you may not know what to do. In such cases, setting a rule such as, “You can only walk on the white line,” instantly makes it more interesting.

This time, I decided on the rule of completing the work as a single piece of cloth, and decided to simply face the woven fabric itself.

Basic Information of the Exhibition

　- Duration : Saturday, 21st October – Friday, 10th November, 2023

　- Open hours: 12:00 – 18:00

　- Close on every Monday & Tuesday including public holiday

　- Venue : Gallery Pictor