"New - Japanese Sense of Beauty".
March 29 - April 17, 2017
Hankyu Department Store
1F Concourse Windows
Osaka (Japan)
"New - Japanese Sense of Beauty" campaign was held at Hankyu Department Store in Osaka. Emmanuelle responded to this theme by designing the seven main windows with a concept of "kasane no irome" - a unique Japanese aesthetic sense of the combination of colors created by layering of garments.
The concept of the installation "kasane no irome" was translated into three dimensional forms by layering the surfaces of 100 colors papers to show the edge lines of colors, which created floating triangular volumes. Each window focused on one gradation of a color, starting with yellow from the right, pink, brown, green, blue, purple, and then white window. Each window displayed products that reminisce the aesthetic sense of Japan, produced an elegant and delicate impression in concert with the installation. The seven windows almost 50m in length, colored with 100 colors delivered an overwhelming presence, as powerful as the crowd of 300,000 people coming and going through the day.
"New - Japanese Sense of Beauty" campaign is held twice a year in Hankyu Department Store. The campaign showcases the aesthetical beauty of Japanese culture and share the sophisticated creation of the present day.
About the "100 colors" series
"100 colors" is an installation series began in 2013, which forms space using 100 shades of colors. Emmanuelle wishes to give emotions through colors as she felt from seeing overflowing "colors" in Tokyo when she first visited in 1995. She also wishes to give opportunities for people to see, touch and feel colors with their senses to become more conscious of colors that exist around them.
In "100 colors", Colors are explored in various forms depending on the environment, to maximize the beauty of colors. 100 colors entering the body with a glance triggers a physical response to engage with the sensation of colors. The installation series will continue to travel around the world.
"When I first arrived in Tokyo,
I was fully fascinated by the colors overflowing on the street.
In that very moment, my mind decided to move to Japan.
Overwhelming number of store signs, flying electrical cables, and flashes of blue sky framed by various volumes of buildings, created three dimensional 'layers' in the city.
The flood of various colors pervaded the street built up a complex depth and intensity in the space. These indelible experiences of colors and layers in Tokyo were the inspiration and essence of my design concept of shikiri, which means dividing (creating) space with colors.
Valuing the emotion inspired from Tokyo, in the 10th anniversary year of my studio, I want to show the beauty of colors to the fullest extent.
I also wish to share the feeling of being surrounded by overflowing colors by
exhibiting 100 colors, here in the middle of Tokyo.
Please come and find your favorite color. "
emmanuelle moureaux (September, 2013)