Interweave (2012) is a multimedia work of interwoven internet cables with an original length of 70 m, connected to a router with Internet connection. The interwoven internet cables are made in a particular node shape which was very popular with kids in the sixties and which we still know under the name of scoubidou.
Tying the thick cables is an intensive operation that requires concentration and precision. The staging and arrangement of the cables and the knot is not arbitrary, and the whole is purposely illuminated. The artist tries each time anew to recall new stories by the choice of the materials or the setting of his sculpture. The central location of the loop in the nave of the building reinforces the theatrical aspect. In a symbolic way, it reminds the people of Ghent of the event in 1539 when quirky Ghent notables were humiliated by Charles V who obliged them to wear a noose or garrote because they had refused to accept the disproportionate requirements of the sovereign. The noose has become, in Ghent, the symbol of resistance against every form of tyranny and misplaced authority. Every year this event is commemorated by so-called ?garrotés? who proudly wear this nickname as a badge of honor.
Interweave summarizes the idea of connection, connectivity in a cross-border and cross-media context.
About the artwork
About the artist
Masashi Echigo ° 1982, Toyama, Japan.
Lives and works in Berlin, Germany and Okayama, Japan. - www.masashiechigo.com
Education:
2009-2010: HISK (Higher Institute of Fine Arts), Ghent, Belgium
2007: MBA in Architecture, Musashino Art University, Tokyo, Japan
During the inauguration of Interweave on February 2, 2012 by Masashi Echigo, there were also exhibits by the artists Colin Waeghe, Rinus Van de Velde, Steven Baelen, Andre Catalão and Lara Dhondt. They all studied together with him at the Higher Institute of Fine Arts in Ghent HISK. As a sign of friendship they exhibited for the occasion in Zebrastraat under the heading "Masashi and his Friends."
Since 2008 Masashi Echigo has been living and working for extended periods in different European cities. Every experience is represented by individual installations that are spatially and emotionally linked to their context. These installations are in dialogue with each other. His work has already been shown in Dublin Contemporary 2011, Dublin (2011); HIAP Cable Gallery, HIAP, Helsinki (2011); The National Gallery of Modern & Contemporary Art, Rome (2010), BE-PART Platform for contemporary art, Waregem, Belgium (2010); Factory Kunsthalle, Krems, Austria (2009).