Taro Shinoda, born in 1964 and residing in Tokyo, is a Japanese conceptual artist. The central theme in his work is “landscapes”, which is not surprising when considering that as a child Shinoda went to a special high school to learn how to create and tend to traditional Japanese gardens. Shinoda himself says that it is actually nature that interests him. He also sees himself very influenced by science.
Some examples of his work: During a three-month residency in Los Angeles in 2005, Shinoda constructed a trailer based on an Engawa, a traditional viewing platform that separates architecture (the domestic space) from the garden (the enchanted space). “Japanese gardens have platform-like balconies called Engawa, particularly in front of the dry landscape- style gardens (Karesansui). No-one is allowed to walk around in the garden, but they may practise meditation on the platform or look at the garden from it. By turning the Engawa into a trailer I can have my own garden anywhere and everywhere, as I like. I went on a trip with a Native American to look for the best gardens that are spontaneously formed by nature.”
Another “landscape” project Shinoda envisioned was Space Camp Site, which he explains as follows: “for long-term stays at a space station, there is currently no global environment brought in there except for the purpose of life support. I believe the space station requires a garden from a mental viewpoint. Based on advice from an expert, I calculated the costs of a rocket launch and garden maintenance in a space station and designed a garden with the highest feasibility using currently available techniques. I think it is difficult to stay away from the global environment even if we are in space.”
His latest work is Lunar Reflection Transmission Technique (LRTT), which was shown at the 10th Istanbul Biennale from September 8–November 4, 2007. As Shinoda tries to explain: “the LRTT is 2 DVDs running synchronously. You put file LRTT A on your right and LRTT B on your left and start them at the same time. To capture the images, I constructed a hand-made telescope and shot in Tokyo and Istanbul.” The attached drawing gives a hint of how it might look and what the artist envisioned.
Unfortunately, Shinoda does not have his own website, but further examples of his work can be found on the Internet.
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