Yoshitomo Nara + graf: A-Z Project: BALTIC Castle (2008)

In 2008, for the first time in a UK public gallery, Yoshitomo Nara and creative design team graf presented the latest installation of their ongoing A-Z Project.

Nara’s work embodies a defiant spirit that comes with a youthful optimism and belief that we can change the world. He is best known for his  deceptively simple drawings, paintings and sculptures of children with apparently innocent, ‘kawaii’ or cute expressions. Nara is influenced by popular culture including punk, rock 'n' roll, Manga and the American cartoons of his childhood.

In 2003, Nara met Hideki Toyoshima an artist and one of the founders of graf and began the A-Z Project. The collaboration explores the relationship between the individual, the space they inhabit and the objects in their surroundings.

For each phase, the team create a new wooden house that responds to the particular environment of the exhibition space. For BALTIC, Nara and graf have constructed three cross shaped houses. The third house ‘BALTIC Castle’ is specially designed for the exhibition and built using local reclaimed materials.

As Hideki Toyoshima of graf points out “The materials are not only recycled, they have stories too. BALTIC Castle is a celebration of the blood sweat and tears of all of the people that have been involved in the project over the four weeks, from the BALTIC staff and technical team to the student volunteers.”

This was the map, drawn by the artists to help you navigate the space. With the images in this presentation we hope you can recreate it in your mind. There's just one artwork we haven't mentioned...