Chikako Watanabe : netting air from the low land

Chikako Watanabe attended art school in Kyoto and later also in Amsterdam, where she currently lives and works. The consistent theme of her art is local communication. The purpose of her projects is to stimulate social interaction and create new communication opportunities for people within modern society. Small questions and curiosity for daily life are her primary inspiration. This artist’s book documents five of Watanabe’s projects: Survival Net Project, Tide, Lloyd Life, Island Tracing, and Dog Folly. She draws parallels between isolated communities in the Netherlands and Japan, compares handmade fishing nets in Asia, and conceives a folly for canines on an old Dutch estate.