In April of this year, we hosted a talk event at Seikosha, a bookshop in Kyoto, with Raphaël Zarka, an artist who we featured in Subsequence. Zarka has been in residence at Villa Kujoyama in Kyoto since April and is scheduled to have an exhibition at Higashiyama Cube in Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art from February 6, 2027, to May 5.

Based in Paris, France, Zarka explores various forms in his works, such as painting, sculpture, text, and printing. While showing a slideshow of his previous artistic pieces, Zarka told us about how he became an artist, stories behind his works, and about his artistic interest. One of the biggest themes within his work is the relationship between the body, geometry, and urban spaces. He started skateboarding in his teens, and it was probably this physical interaction with the world that fostered this interest.

Skaters treat the city as a type of playground and go where they please throughout this space. Exploring public spaces like roads, buildings, and landscapes from this perspective allows you to understand their geometry with your own body. Of course, for those of us who do not skate, we engage with the geometry of the world around us through things like staircases, but it is rare for us to actively think about this in our daily lives.

By changing the vantage point by which we look at the world, we can summon new feelings that we never felt before. Indeed, perhaps this is the role of the artist. Speaking of his residency in Kyoto, Zarka said, “I’ve only just arrived, so there’s a lot I wish to think about.” I wonder what he will discover as he continues his research in Kyoto. I’m sure he will make use of those results at his exhibition next year.