New Toiletpaper Box, 2010

'New Toiletpaper Box' is a site-specific work made for the anteroom of a toilet in a guesthouse in Tokyo and fulfills the purpose of a container for storing a bulk pack of toilet paper (96 rolls of toilet paper).

In the exhibition setting, the box was additionally shown with sketches and photographs documenting the research work for this piece. For example, the cyan blue and cadmium red stripes of the box are from a Tokyo subway line leading to Zokei University. Another photo shows a typical Japanese mailbox with a small plexiglass window so the recipient can immediately see when mail has arrived. The third photo shows a Japanese trash can with a pictogram that was used as a template to design a toilet paper pictogram. The fourth photo shows a small box for telephone books in telephone booths. For the toilet paper box, this type of aluminum handle was copied by hand.

The idea for this 'New Toiletpaper Box' was to combine different details of design objects in public spaces without paying attention to their original function. The stripes, the aluminum handle or even the plexiglass window are actually just for decoration. However, they give the impression that they have a function because they actually once had a function in their original objects. But, a closer look reveals that these elements are useless for a toilet paper box.

44 x 38 x 80 cm
coated MDF board, plywood sheets, plexiglass, adhesive foil, lacquer, acrylic paint, aluminum, rolls, toilet paper