ABSENT CAFE

Cover image of ABSENT CAFE

Data

Location: Marunouchi Bldg., Tokyo, Japan
Team: Megumi Matsubara, Hiroi Ariyama
Completion year: 2008
Exhibition title: Marunouchi Artweeks
Client: Mitsubishi Jisho Property Management
Purpose: Installation
Floor area: 400 sqm
Photographers: Martin Holtkamp, ASSISTANT

Public art installation in the cafe located in the Marunouchi Building’s main lobby, commissioned by the building’s owner Mitsubishi Jisho Property Management during Marunouchi Artweeks.

We metaphorically erased and made the cafe’s exterior ‘invisible’ by wrapping it with an opaque reflective film. The cafe’s facade normally covered with fashion brands’ advertisements were substituted to a series of ‘absent advertisement’ made of images of her friends in one of any ordinary evenings taken by Megumi Matsubara then blown up to the size of advertisement banners.

The cafe’s regular social transaction typified by people’s conversation was also relocated and reactivated outside the cafe by Absent Symposium, an event co-held with the installation via 3000 postcards spread in the city and online form that called for participation.
The dialogue with the symposium’s participants continued forever until it ended.

assistant

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Images

Linked Projects

ABSENT CITY

ABSENT SCHOOL vol. 1 | FLAIR POOL