London artist Akane Takayama is in the process of turning school children into installation artists. Over the past year she has promoted sculpture workshops in schools throughout the city and with her student collaborators created over 700 dogs. Now, with the help of the children and volunteers, the dogs get to gather in London parks, go on walks, and carry wishes for the future tucked into their collars.
These images were taken at the first installation at Paradise Gardens on June 19 and 20, 2010. Next Takayama and her collaborators will turn Clissold Park into a dog park on July 31, 2010, and then onto Holland Park on August 8, 2010. Visit her DOG Sculpture blog for more information.
During the course of the installation people want to move the DOGS,
children want to carry them off, bash them, cuddle them or just tear
their ears and tails off. Our team of volunteers spent the days
replacing and repairing the DOGS. We took the position that this
interaction was an intrinsic part of the installation, as the public
interacted the installation changed and moved in response to that
interaction. The public, unwittingly were manipulating the installation
and adding to it in their interaction and thereby re-defining its
appearance. — Akane Takayama
See more of Akane Takayam's work at her website.