Philip Marshall: Next Stop Shibuya 次渋谷

Although executed as an abstract sculpture, now completed, it reminds me of my rush hour experiences on the Tokyo Metro and commuter trains. Being crushed together, often face-to-face with total strangers, too squeezed together to even breath properly, requires a mental preservation of personal space that is not possible physically. The outward curve of these two elements suggests to me the mental separation despite physical proximity that Tokyo, like almost all large cities, requires if one is to maintain one’s own individuality. Having been compressed into a railway car at Shinjuku, and being pushed further in at each stop, hearing “The next stop is Shibuya”, my destination, was a welcome announcement.