Rie Tachikawa Interview Full Today

Did we miss a key question about Rie Tachikawa’s method? This is the most complete interview available in English. For updates, follow our newsletter—but Tachikawa would prefer you didn’t.

(Smiles) Art is the discipline of lying beautifully. I lie about decay. I lie about emptiness. But the feeling you get when you stand in my room? That feeling is the truth. Part 4: The Full Archive – Why No Digital Copies? I: This is for fans desperately searching for a "Rie Tachikawa interview full" video or PDF—you famously refuse to archive your work digitally. Why? rie tachikawa interview full

Because they recognized it. That cup—it had a hairline crack. The tape was yellowed, brittle. It looked like someone had tried to fix it in a hurry and then simply... left it. When you walk into a pristine white cube gallery, you are an observer. When you walk into a room where a teacup is floating above you, you become a trespasser. You ask: Who lived here? Why did they leave this? That question is the artwork. Not the cup. Did we miss a key question about Rie Tachikawa’s method

That sounds maddeningly meticulous.

So you are a storyteller?

American Minimalism is about geometry and the object’s relationship to the viewer’s body. It is mathematical. Japanese "Ma" is about the interval . It is the silence between two claps. The empty space inside a bamboo joint. Minimalism says: Look at this thing. Ma says: Look at what is not there. In my 2021 piece, Wind Score , I hung 1,000 sheets of rice paper from the ceiling. No glue. No weights. The artwork was not the paper. The artwork was the moment the door opened, the air shifted, and the papers breathed. That breath—that interval—is Ma. (Smiles) Art is the discipline of lying beautifully

Searching for a transcript is notoriously difficult. The artist rarely gives long-form interviews. She prefers her work to speak for itself. However, during her 2023 residency at the House of World Cultures in Berlin, Tachikawa sat for a rare, uninterrupted 90-minute conversation. Below is the complete, unedited transcript of that interview, providing unprecedented access to her creative process, her philosophy of "Ma" (間), and why she considers an empty room the most powerful canvas of all. Part 1: The Origins of Listening Interviewer (I): Rie, thank you for agreeing to a full interview. For those searching for your name, the first thing they see is the term "silent sculptor." Do you accept that title?