From Monday, March 17, 2025, to Friday, May 30, 2025, Art Archive Exhibition XXVII "Correspondence Poetry or Letters and Inspiration: Shuzo Takiguchi and Shusaku Arakawa / Madeline Gins" will be held.

"The simple act of pleating paper. It is nothing more than stationery that should be named 'correspondence paper.' [...] They are objects and words. A book that is never bound and never paginated."

(Shuzo Takiguchi, "Around the Blank Sheet" in Writing in the Margins, Misuzu Shobo, 1966, p. 116. [Original publication: Shuzo Takiguchi, "Around the Blank Sheet" in Mizue, March 1963 issue, Bijutsu Shuppan-sha, p. 69.] In the original publication, "correspondence paper" [koshin-shi] is referred to as "correspondence poetry" [koshin-shi].)

"This maker 'dies' or 'disassembles' within a series of states originally formed from there. In other words, the group called 'we,' the coexisting space-time (in most cases, acting as an individual, 'I'), begins to reassemble. The 'maker' cannot know about its own reassembly in space-time, and this leads us into the blank. / There are countless reassemblies, and likewise, countless blanks."

(Shusaku Arakawa, "Production Notes," trans. Kunio Motoe, 6th Homage to Shuzo Takiguchi, Satani Gallery, 1986.)

Shuzo Takiguchi (1903–1979) and Shusaku Arakawa (1936–2010) shared a relationship of mutual inspiration in various forms. Shortly after Arakawa moved to the United States, Madeline Gins (1941–2014) joined as a sender of letters, and their correspondence continued uninterrupted until the end of Takiguchi's life. Takiguchi referred to his handmade books—which appeared both finished and unfinished—as "correspondence poetry / correspondence paper" (koshin-shi). If taken literally, this concept refers to letters.

Among the letters sent from Arakawa/Gins to Takiguchi, there are many quasi-artworks that go beyond merely communicating business or recent news through strings of characters; they exhaust the medium of the letter using humorous and witty methods, transforming it into a new medium. For example, some letters add new messages over the text of old postcards, or generate different expressions by adding arrows or a few words to printed images. Because letters are a highly private medium, they seem to employ a kind of esoteric terminology known only to the sender and receiver. Yet, at the same time, they generate an open and dense "blank." By viewing letters ("correspondence poetry") as a site of collaboration, this exhibition aims to reconsider the issues of Takiguchi and Arakawa/Gins through the "blank" that stirs within them.

*This exhibition shares the theme of "letters" with the exhibition "Letters and Drifting Poetry" (November 2024 – February 2025) held at the Toyama Prefectural Museum of Art and Design (Shuzo Takiguchi Collection Room), and the symposium "Papier Plié 02: Shuzo Takiguchi and Shusaku Arakawa / Madeline Gins—Letters or Margins and Blanks" (December 2024) held at Keio University.

Currently, the Keio University Art Center (KUAC), the Arakawa Shusaku + Madeline Gins Tokyo Office, and the Reversible Destiny Foundation are collaborating on the organization of the correspondence exchanged between Takiguchi and Arakawa/Gins. This exhibition was planned against the backdrop of this organizational work.

[Dates and Times]

Monday, March 17, 2025 – Friday, May 30, 2025, 11:00–18:00

Closed: Saturdays, Sundays, Public Holidays, April 26 (Sat) – May 6 (Tue)

Temporary Closures (Scheduled): April 21 (Mon), May 26 (Mon)

Temporary Openings (Scheduled): April 19 (Sat), May 24 (Sat)

[Venue]

Keio University Art Center (KUAC)

(Art Space, 1F South Annex, Mita Campus)

[Target Audience]

Open to the public

[Admission]

Free

[Advance Registration]

Not required

[Inquiries]

Keio University Art Center (KUAC)

2-15-45 Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8345

TEL 03-5427-1621 FAX 03-5427-1620

ac-tenji[at]adst.keio.ac.jp

Please see here for further details.