Shiro Masuyama

Masuyama studied architecture at Meiji University, Kawasaki, Japan where he became interested in the intersection of architecture and art and carried out a project called Tama River Project to raise issues around the conventionality of a university education in which students are taught less practically. He placed compartments for couples at regular intervals along the bank of the Tama River where couples would usually sit keeping some distance from each other. The wall of the compartment had pictograms of a man and a woman and enclosed a bench for 2 people.

After this project, Masuyama became more interested in involving people he came across in the city in his work. He has been placing his works in the middle of the city by reading the context of the site using architectural techniques. He uses motifs such as money, sex, office workers mass media and cigarettes – all images that are popular and familiar to the public and draw the attention of passersby. He places an emphasis on making functional, architectural works and making them approachable and easy to interact with. Masuyama’s work has been described as ‘interventionist’ and ‘interactive’ and aims to draw the attention of people who have no prior connection to the world of art. He describes his work as four-dimensional and only complete when those who view it become involved as this ‘fourth dimension’ and an integral part of the work.