Commentary by Curator

"This 12-meter-long artwork made of several sheets of cyanotype paper is a life-size back photography of Hi-Red Center (hereinafter HRC) members: Natsuyuki Nakanishi, Genpei Akasegawa, and Tatsu Izumi. The photographs were taken during the ""Shelter Plan"" by HRC, an event which took place on 26 and 27 January 1964 in the old building of the Imperial Hotel. The aim of the event was to measure and record the bodies of guests and sell their life-size ""shelters"". The artwork landed at Keio University in connection to the Hijikata Tatsumi Archive (in Keio University Art Center). For the exhibition ""Tatsumi Hijikata + Natsuyuki Nakanishi–– Back"" (in 2012, Keio University Art Center), a restoration of the work was planned. The artwork, composed of some sheets of paper, was severely damaged by the past displays. There is a slip of paper on the back of it with the names of the artists involved, indicating that the artwork had been repaired after every exhibition. In order to preserve the original texture of the artwork and its documentary value, the appearance had been kept as is. Before the exhibition, the tape traces were removed, and the damaged parts and joints of the connected papers were restored with washi paper and shofu-nori (wheat starch paste) to withstand installation. After the exhibition, a new storage box made of acid-free paper was prepared for long-term preservation."