It’s a Small World, Simon Fujiwara’s project for the Istanbul Biennial, began after he discovered a large quantity of semi-ruined figures of pop icons in the trash of an attractions manufacturer near Istanbul. He salvaged these figures and combined them with thirteen architectural miniatures. In these sculptural works, the functions of everyday civic architecture are blended with symbols from the mass- entertainment world. Fujiwara’s miniature city draws attention to the ways in which fantasy and escapism have bled into the core structures of our everyday lives, often masking the brutal pragmatism of globalised capitalism.
Simon Fujiwara (b. 1982, London, UK) often investigates dominant cultural forms such as tourist attractions, famous icons, historic narratives and mass media imagery at times even collaborating with the advertising and entertainment industries to produce his works. Through a process he calls ‘hyper engagement’ his work creates a portrait of a media generation, compelling and at times disturbing. Recent solo exhibitions include Hope House, Kunsthaus Bregenz (2018); Revolution, Lafayette Anticipations, Paris (2018); The Humanizer, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin (2017). Group exhibitions include Guggenheim Museum, New York (2015); Centre Pompidou, Paris (2018) and the MoMA Tokyo (2019).
EXHIBITED WORKS
It’s a Small World (Slum), 2019
Mixed media
22 × 110 × 50 cm
It’s a Small World (Factory), 2019
Mixed media
45 × 120 × 55 cm
It’s a Small World (Jailhouse), 2019
Mixed media
53 × 70 × 70 cm
It’s a Small World (Powerplant), 2019
Mixed media
141 × 140 × 100 cm
It’s a Small World (Whorehouse), 2019
Mixed media
50 × 120 × 120 cm
It’s a Small World (The Square), 2019
Mixed media
40 × 100 × 100 cm
It’s a Small World (School), 2019
Mixed media
45 × 88 × 88 cm
It’s a Small World (Cemetery), 2019
Mixed media
44 × 120 × 55 cm
It’s a Small World (Castle), 2019
Mixed media
134 × 142 × 76 cm
It’s a Small World (Temple), 2019
Mixed media
85 × 120 × 60 cm
It’s a Small World (Market), 2019
Mixed media
144 × 120 × 120 cm
It’s a Small World (Museum), 2019
Mixed media
40 × 92 × 152 cm
It’s a Small World (Hospital), 2019
Mixed media
110 × 110 × 80 cm
Courtesy the artist, Dvir Gallery (Tel Aviv and Brussels), TARO NASU (Tokyo), Esther Schipper (Berlin) and Gio Marconi (Milan).
Commissioned by the 16th Istanbul Biennial.
Produced with the support of Ayşegül & Ömer Özyürek and Goethe-Institut Istanbul.
Presented with the support of British Council.
