'Between the lines' by Chiharu Shiota

Two years ago at the Biennale in Venice I was very impressed by the work of the Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota.
Her work 'The key in the hand' was on show in the Japanese pavilion.
It was 'The Sensation of the Biennale'.
Two old boats were floating in a sea of used keys and the whole space looked like a grotto made from red woolen thread on which keys hang.
The keys came from houses all over the world. There were thousends of them.

 

For Shiota keys means a connection to each other and boats cary people and time.

Poetic and political it was. I thought about refugees leaving their homes and crossing the sea in old boats to get off in a safer place to live. About the houses I have lived in in my life.
I remember staying there a long time.
It was a work of art which came into my mind and probably stays there always when I think of visit to the Biennale in 2015.


Until October 25,  Shiota has an exhibition in the Noordbrabants museum in 's-Hertogenbosch.
'Between the lines' is the name of the installation she made there with the help of ten assistants. Also made with kilometers of red woolen string.

In her explanation she wrote that each strand can be seen as the existence of an individual whose life becomes entangled with other lives. The metal boats bring together all lives and all memories and carry us through life.

Compared to the work in Venice this work by her was totally disappointing in my opinion. The idea behind is not very deep and impressive if you have seen the installation in Venice. There is no history in the boats or any other interesting perspective.
It feels like a very weak off-spin of the exhibition in Venice. 
And yes, individual lives entagle with eachother. 
I wish she had made that clear in a more artistic way. 
She is capable about that if you have a close look at her website.