Chiharu Shiota Exhibit at the Asian

San Francisco's Asian Art Museum is hosting Two Home Countries, an exhibit of the work of the 54-year-old artist Chiharu Shiota, who lives in both Germany and Japan.

The signage on entering the exhibit was amusing. Instead of "Don't Touch The Art!" we were offered positive reinforcement instead.

The caution was necessary because the first installation, Diary, surrounds the viewer in an 88-foot web of red yarn that feels magical.

Embedded in the thickets of yarn are pages from recovered diaries of Japanese soldiers in World War Two along with journals from post-war Germans.

The exhibit also features drawings...

...and a video of the naked artist being bound with strings, which is reminiscent of performance artist Marina Abramović, one of Chiharu Shiota's mentors.

This exhibit debuted last year at the Japan Society in New York City, along with a one-man, English-language stage show adaptation of Yukio Mishima's 1956 novel Kinkakuji (The Temple of the Golden Pavilion). Reviews of the play were not particularly favorable, but the set design by Shiota consisting of strings transformed by lighting and projections were universally praised. You can see for yourself through July 27th at the Asian.