There is an almost claustrophobic wonder about Chiaru Shiota’s work, shown in Hayward’s gallery. The exhibition focuses primarily on Shiota’s work with string, where what can only be kilometres worth of coloured string is used to create intricate webs around the room and around objects.
The first room is keys and a door, evoking the feeling that if only one could find and disentangle the right key, we would be able to pass through, or close off. Feelings of futility, of overwhelm, and yet simultaneously a lightness — the task is impossible, and it is not your responsibility, you simply must go on.
Chiaru Shiota - Threads of Life
The next room has string hanging from the ceiling, like a magical fringe, which has caught up bits of paper. You can read some of the letters, each in a different script - and upon reaching the end of the room we learn they are from visitors to the exhibition in different cities, writing letters of thanks. There are letters of encouragement, of forgiveness, of love. As you walk through the maze-like arrangement of a path, the papers are suspended as if these feelings of gratitude are falling down upon you.
Chiaru Shiota - Letters of thanks
We pass through a stairway area to transition into the final, most compelling room. Black string engulfs beds in various states of disarray. I understand that at various points, performers will sleep in these beds, and can’t help but wonder how they get into the web. The string webs here are their most claustrophobic, like darkness coming down around them. It is dark work, but interesting.
Chiaru Shiota - During Sleep
