Chiharu Shiota, Web of Time, 2020

 Chiharu Shiota, Web of Time, 2020 

Chiharu Shiota Web of Time, 2020 Toi Art, Levels 4 & 5 Te Papa, Wellington. Photos above by Isaac du Toit 

This contemporary installation artwork by Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota made me feel like I was stepping into another world. It is a very atmospheric artwork with light shining down through the artwork creating patterns on the floor. Numbers float within the mess of criss-crossing pieces of string. When you walk through the tunnel you feel like you’ve just stepped into a worm-hole or some kind of time-tunnel. It feels like you are in the middle of a galaxy. I feel drawn into the artwork on all the occasions I have visited Te Papa since this exhibit was installed in 2020. I like that even on the bridge connecting the lift to the Toi Art gallery space on Level 5 you still feel like you are being transported through the exhibit, from a higher vantage point, to the collection of older paintings exhibited at the far end against a red wall. This feeling is captured by Michael O’Neill’s photography below (on the Te Papa website).

Chiharu Shiota, The Web of Time, Toi Art, 2020. Photo by Michael O'Neill. Te Papa

Not only do you participate in the artwork by walking through it there is a display screen on Level 5 showing people’s Instagram responses on social media to the artwork so viewers can be part of the experience in another way through sharing their photos. 

Before seeing this installation at Te Papa I had never come across any work by this artist. Prompted by working on this personal response I have read the information and interview with Chiharu Shiota on the Te Papa website and looked at her own website. There is also a video of an interview with the artist on the Stuff news website. 

Interestingly, Te Papa have purchased this artwork for their permanent collection which leaves me wondering how it will be stored after the exhibition is over. According to the Te Papa website it took about 13-14 people three weeks to install the artwork working with the artist. I imagine it will take a long time to untangle all of the string to de-install it. 355km of wool was used in the installation. 

Although the artwork was planned before the COVID-19 outbreak, the artist says “because of Covid-19, numbers have become even more powerful. Since the beginning of the pandemic, we are counting the number of deaths and people infected every day. We receive this number every day. It is like the number of people born every day. I never thought of these numbers before. Now we count death every day. I thought about this a lot during the set-up.” After coming to New Zealand to direct the installation of the artwork Chiharu Shiota spent two weeks in managed isolation and apparently instead of being called by her name was given a number.

A common theme in Shiota’s work is the use of black thread or yarn. She says “I wanted to create a three-dimensional drawing, so I started working with yarn. With the thread I can draw in the air in an 

unlimited space.” I really like the 3-dimensional aspect to this artwork and black wool reminds me of drawing with a black ink pen. 

This photo of my sister and I (on right) taken by my mother through the web of time shows the interactive nature of the exhibition. You are encouraged to take photos and share them on social media. But no encouragement necessary as this a very photogenic artwork anyway. In conclusion Chiharu Shiota is now one of my favourite artists after seeing this artwork at Te Papa. 5 Stars.