Japanese artist Yasuhiro Suzuki made one of his big dreams come true—to “open” Sumida river with a ship shaped like an oversized zipper. This achievement is a symbol of his curiosity about what’s beneath the surface of the river. His “Zip-Fastener Ship” unmistakably mimics the real zipper and leaves a white trail on the water surface that looks impressive from above.
The art installation is titled Opening the River Zip-Fastener Ship. If it looks familiar, that’s because Suzuki made a scale model in 2004 before making a full-size version. His boat appeared at an art installation for DESIGNART Tokyo 2020 festival recently.
“The undertow of the boat, which travels back and forth between Azuma-bashi Bridge and Sakura-bashi Bridge, opened up the water like a zipper to connect the other side of the river,” he tells Colossal. “(I hoped) that it would change the way we look at the city landscape.”
Check out the video of the ship below. Suzuki’s plans for the future include shifting his focus to the water’s molecules in his next installations. Follow his work on Instagram if you’d like to stay informed on this topic.
