artists install 'five elements tea room' made of concentric layers of shoji screens

during the kogei exhibition, a group of artists installed the five elements tea room at the 21st century museum of contemporary art in kanazawa using concentric layers of shoji screens. the team, consisting of artist ohi chozaemon, ceramic artist and architect yuki nara, and architecture firm iemoto.inc, drew from chinese philosophy to combine elements of wood, fire, earth, metal, and water, in a piece made of lattice wood and washi paper partitions.

images courtesy of kogei architecture

kogei seeks to define a kind of creative movement that transcends the boundaries between crafts, architecture, art, industry, and philosophy, to bring together people of different fields. within this new ‘crafts architecture’, the three artists created the five elements tea room, which combines structural elements with smaller objects and art pieces. composed of eight layers of shoji screens, the piece distorts the visitors’ sense of orientation within its walls and invites them into a handcrafted microcosm.

project info:

name: the five elements tea room

artists: ohi chozaemon, yuki nara, iemoto.inc

organizer: kogei architecture

location: 21st century museum of contemporary art, kanazawa