Takakazu Takuchi "Excessive Feast"

Museum Haus Kasuya

Finished

Artists

Takakazu Takuchi

This exhibition focuses attention on the question of desire at the root of one's appetite, featuring photographs of soap bubbles against dining tables laden with food, and sculptures made up of piled-up white porcelain tableware. Whereas wild animals like lions only attack other animals when their stomachs are empty, the appetites and desires of humans recognize fewer restrictions. One example is the "vomiting room" that existed in ancient Rome. In order for the Romans to wrangle maximum enjoyment from the act of dining, they would adjourn to the vomiting room in order to get rid of the satiety of the preceding meal, and then return to the table in order to eat again. Human appetite sometimes acts in defiance of nourishment. Originally tied to the sustenance of life, functioning as a replenishing, self-regulatory impulse, appetites have taken on a very different form in modern societies. In Japan, recent years have seen a gourmet food boom, with an accompanying rise in sales of gourmet magazines. TV programs that deal with food are also constantly being broadcast. Foreigners from other societies who visit Japan seem to be genuinely surprised at this spectacle. Although Japanese culinary culture has much to boast about, enjoying an especially elevated reputation abroad, considerably different appetites and desires are being stirred up domestically in one of the most stressful societies in the world.

Opening party: June 1st (Sun) 14:00-

Schedule

Jun 1 (Sun) 2008-Jul 27 (Sun) 2008