In early summer 2022, ginza graphic gallery (ggg) will present Taku Satoh TSDO: in LIFE, an exhibition featuring Taku Satoh and TSDO.
Taku Satoh’s design firm TSDO has built a reputation for its distinctive approach of always drawing the full potential out of the specified environment, pioneering new possibilities for design in a broad range of situations. The typical image of an individual graphic designer used to be one of someone who prioritized a specific creative style, but TSDO’s reputation seems to suggest that the firm has moved away from that position. Nevertheless, Taku Satoh has continued to produce solo gallery exhibitions from time to time, independently showing his own works. These have been characterized by addressing dichotomies such as public/private, inside/outside, objective/subjective, extrinsic/intrinsic or design/art—not by focusing on the difference, but by being related to both sides.
The exhibition is configured with the ground floor gallery focusing primarily on works produced independently by Taku Satoh since his PLASTICITY exhibition at ggg in 2004. The basement gallery presents design projects where he worked through TSDO, making this the first exhibition to present both aspects of Satoh’s work in a format that enables them to be compared and contrasted. One common factor is the “in LIFE” keyword, which infuses both groups of work, signifying that all the works are a part of a very natural, ordinary life.
One objective of this exhibition is to remind viewers that designing is not something that occurs up in the clouds, far removed from our ordinary existence. On the contrary, it is a familiar process that affects each of us as a part of our ordinary lives.