Site Sketches

Kawamata first began making Site Sketches in 2013.
They combine wood elements with acrylic paint on paper.

“The moment that triggered my series of Site Sketches was putting some leftover acrylic paint on a white sheet of paper while I was working on maquettes in my atelier. One day I began placing some wooden offcuts onto that paper, following the paint marks. These wooden chips were also discarded material from my maquette-making. (…) In my outdoor projects I have to remain sensitive to issues like the conditions at specific locations, structural integrity, and the safety of the audience. The advantage of Site Sketches is that I can disregard all of these things and develop freely on the paper, and the use of colors and materials gives rise to coincidental combinations. It is as though I am increasing the stock of my imagination. And they can also function as experimental spaces to see what and how I can build up through coincidence.”

T.K.

From Tadashi Kawamata: Site Sketches No. 1–500, Mennour, Paris, 2023.