Shimabuku's Curious Occupations: Octopus Transport and Lamprey Production at CAPC Bordeaux
Shimabuku's dual exhibitions at CAPC musée d'art contemporain in Bordeaux (November 9, 2011–February 5, 2012) and the Centre international d'art et du paysage on the island of Vassivière (November 13, 2011–May 6, 2012) present his practice of engaging with improbable and paradoxical situations. The artist is known for transporting an octopus in a cooler, following every stage of lamprey production, making animals smile, and avoiding contact with extraterrestrials. He favors detours, loops, and interlacing over straight lines, aiming to restore archaic practices of the ferryman, healer, and storyteller. Shimabuku brings together distant realities—potatoes and fish, a turtle and an exhibition space, a golf practice and a window, street singers and artistic performances—to produce surprising situations and funny stories. The text by Didier Arnaudet frames this as a quest for a thought that abandons its continuous, well-oiled pace and recovers elementary, effervescent energy through infinite detours and transpositions.
Key facts
- Shimabuku exhibited at CAPC musée d'art contemporain, Bordeaux from November 9, 2011 to February 5, 2012.
- Shimabuku exhibited at Centre international d'art et du paysage from November 13, 2011 to May 6, 2012.
- The artist transports an octopus in a cooler.
- He follows every stage of lamprey production.
- He makes animals smile and avoids extraterrestrials.
- Shimabuku pairs potatoes with fish, a turtle with an exhibition space, a golf practice with a window, and street singers with artistic performances.
- Didier Arnaudet wrote the accompanying text.
- The exhibitions took place in Bordeaux and on the island of Vassivière.
Entities
Artists
- Shimabuku
- Didier Arnaudet
Institutions
- CAPC musée d'art contemporain
- Centre international d'art et du paysage
Locations
- Bordeaux
- France
- Vassivière
Sources
- artpress —