I still own the first ARAKAWA GRIP catalog from 1985 here today, although, at the time, I recognized Arakawa products because they would visit to promote their actual products. I first began using Arakawa grips in my work for Comme des Garçons. It must have been around 1991. It was when the idea to hang torsos and other items from above for each event began. Before the Internet, products were often introduced in person, so the quality was well communicated. There would be information on the product as well as related topics. Chatting with people can reveal insights into the potential usage of the product, or it can also lead to the development of interpersonal connections that result in the discovery of a new product. One time, a bookshop owner helped me find the source of a small piece of furniture featured in a foreign book, and I learned that it was the work of a Swedish artist being produced under license in Asahikawa, Hokkaido. As a result, I connected with the artist, and the seat was changed to leather to be used in a restaurant. There was also a time when I met Ingo Maurer when I visited his exhibition at the Salone del Mobile in Milan, after which I sent him sketches to make lighting fixtures for the Comme des Garçons store.
The way people engage with objects changes with time, making enriching the stories behind them essential. In relation to wire and grip, to hang something is to "cut off its connection with others" to make it seem as if it exists alone in space. The sense of floating is something extraordinary, yet it is a beautiful expression of sensibility within the realm of human creativity. text by Masaaki Takahashi
