‘Inner Worlds’ is a new series mapping creatives’ psyches through the places where they work. Sometimes refuge, sometimes battleground, these rooms, studios, and spaces enable reflection, experimentation – and ultimately art-making.
In the second episode of the series, skateboarder and self-taught sculptor Haroshi invites us into the skatepark-like setting of his Tokyo studio. Formerly a factory, the building was taken over by artists and stripped down to create studios. ‘There used to be a huge skate park near here, which is why I moved to the area,’ he says.
His studio is a playful world, brimming with antique tin toys, colorful sofubi (soft vinyl figurines), and – of course – featuring a skate ramp. Old skateboards, which are his primary medium, are stacked by the hundreds. ‘I want to be surrounded by jumbled-up objects,’ Haroshi says. In his practice, he strips, layers, and glues the boards together before hand carving them to achieve his distinct, pop culture-influenced figures. However, what the artist ultimately conveys in the film is the sense of community found in the former factory. ‘Everyone here treasures the idea of creating something,’ he says ‘and comes to this place to do what they love.’
Haroshi is represented by Nanzuka (Tokyo).
Director: Joseph George
Director of Photography: Nobutaka Shirahama
Interviewer / Translator: Saka Matsushita
Editor: I Han Chen
Color: Victor Ivanov
Nowness
Creative Director: Bunny Kinney
Managing Director: Gavin Humphries
Video Commissioner: Katie Metcalfe
Producer: Noor Miah
Video Editor: Harry Bowley
Commissioned by Alicia Reuter and Jeanne-Salomé Rochat for Art Basel
#Worlds #Haroshi