Shinpei Takeda: 'Limit of Your Safe Space'

Tijuana- and Germany-based artist Shinpei Takeda is opening a new solo exhibition at Oceanside Museum of Art using a combination of physical, sculptural, immersive installations and augmented reality — based on the artist's collaboration with refugees and immigrants across the world. The exhibition studies the boundaries of safe spaces, and how a virtual safe space can also provide respite.

Takeda's work often feels magical and fantastical — from his oversized, immersive textile sculputres to sound art to AR — and his recent major exhibitions like "Fantasia Moral" at Centro Cultural Tijuana CECUT and "Fobias" at Mesa College Art Gallery

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The exhibition will be on view at OMA May 7 through Sept. 10, 2022.

From the museum:
The concept of “safe space” has taken on new importance and meaning as the effects of a global pandemic have influenced the way we interact and keep our distance, both physically and virtually. Meanwhile, as Russia invades Ukraine and as millions of refugees are fleeing the violence, we are again witnessing those seeking safe spaces. This exhibition explores what that concept means to individuals, especially those impacted by the experiences of immigration, forced displacement, and active combat, and how personal interpretations of safe space can be expressed artistically.

Throughout the Fall of 2021, Tijuana- and Dusseldorf-based artist Shinpei Takeda guided a series of virtual-reality workshops with five selected participants across the globe who identify as immigrants and refugees including two United States Armed Forces veterans, as they shared stories about how their physical, social, digital, and psychological spaces have been impacted by their experiences. Participants worked with the artist collaboratively to envision, design, and create an expression of their safe spaces within the virtual environment.

In the resulting exhibition, visitors will experience a mixed-reality environment exploring the purpose of safe space, both in our society and in emerging virtual spaces, and the possibilities of virtual space as a tool for finding sanctuary. A physical installation designed and constructed by Takeda based on the results of the workshops will be augmented by the virtual reality environments created by workshop participants, which visitors will interact with using their mobile devices. Additionally, videos from the workshops will present the process of how the participants’ constructed their virtual safe space creations, as well as the participants’ stories in their own words.

Read more about the exhibition here.

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