FriendsWithYou is a two-person art collaboration between Samuel Borkson from Miami, Florida and Arturo Sandoval III from Havana, Cuba. Their partnership started in 2002, and have been creating “new relationships” based on the keywords “magic,” “luck,” and “friendship.” Their work is based on the theme of relational aesthetics and aims to help us connect with ourselves, others and nature, and to build community.
Borkson and Sandoval’s artistic practice includes immersive installations, sculptures, paintings, animations and live performances. In 2018, FriendsWithYou designed the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, and in 2022, the duo created a giant steel sculpture titled “Starchild” for the City of Miami Beach, which was recognized as a permanent artwork by the city.
For the month of September, the artists hosted the exhibition “Ocean — Temple of the Sacred Heart “ at “PARCO MUSEUM TOKYO” on the 4th floor of “Shibuya PARCO”. The exhibition was a solo exhibition featuring new paintings and sculptures on the theme of an imaginary myth named “The Book of OCEAN” and an interactive artwork, “Memory Wave,” combining light, sound and movement. To commemorate the opening of “Ocean — Temple of the Sacred Heart,” Hypebeast spoke with Sanodval and Borkson of FriendsWithYou about how they met, their thoughts on their work and how this exhibition came to be.
Parco
Parco
Hypebeast: Can you tell us how this exhibition began?
Samuel Borkson (S): This exhibition started when NANZUKA and PARCO made us an offer. The theme was “The Book of OCEAN. It is a fictional myth that assumes the earth to be an ocean and aims to connect humanity to it. We have an “OCEAN” within us, and all living things on this planet are united to it.
In other words, the purpose of this exhibition is to unite the world through the “Book of OCEAN”?
Arturo Sandoval (A): Yes, that’s right. We have been exploring art that reconstructs the state of contemporary spirituality. So we hope to share our ideology with you in this exhibition.
What is the background behind the formation of FriendsWithYou?
S: I was born and raised in Miami, Florida. That area was a pretty crazy area. That’s where we met and formed FriendsWithYou. We hit it off right away and we both started going to rave events together. We started to resonate with new ideas of peace, love, unity and respect that were new to us in the 1990s. In the process, we began to think that in order to pass on our ideas to the future, we needed to “redesign the ideas themselves.” In other words, we needed to make art.
Is that the idea that led to the formation of FriendsWithYou?
S: The name FriendsWithYou expresses pro-noia (care), the opposite of paranoia (inhospitable). It also implies that if you save your friends, you help the world and thereby enrich your life.
Were you both artists before you formed FriendsWithYou?
A: We consider ourselves born artists. We have always wanted to express something since we were little, and we were fortunate enough to have families that helped us learn the skills to create art while we were in school. So we started creating together, and after seeing the success of THE BURGER BUNCH, we were convinced that we could do something dynamic with FriendsWithYou. From then on, we just kept on creating art, and for the past 23 years, we have been working as if we were conducting a social experiment.
Parco
Parco
Parco
Parco
Parco
Parco
Parco
Parco
There are elements of Japanese anime and subculture in the works of FriendsWithYou, including this exhibition. Is this something you are consciously incorporating into your work on a regular basis?
S: I have always been interested in Hello Kitty and Sanrio. When I started working with Arturo, I saw that Japanese “KAWAII” culture was being consumed around the world, and I thought that anime could be a means or symbol to convey the concept of animism and mythological ideas that we advocate.
It was surprising that such an intention was included in the exhibition. Let me return to the exhibition. Was the theme of “The Book of OCEAN” an idea that you had been thinking about for a long time?
A: The “Book of OCEAN” itself is an idea that we came up with about four years ago, but presenting it in this exhibition was just a storytelling process for us. In deciding on the theme, we bounced ideas off each other, created artwork, and developed a story line from there. But the project is still ongoing and open to the participation of artists other than ourselves. In doing so, we wanted to present a new, contemporary system of mythology.
S: Each of the works in this exhibition has a deep story, and I hope you will also note that they are all connected.
And in addition to the exhibition in PARCO MUSEUM TOKYO, an interactive art “Memory wave” has been installed in the atrium space on the 4th floor of Shibuya PARCO.
S: Memory Wave expresses the idea that “everything comes from the sea, which itself is the sea.” The ocean has waves, and like our heartbeats, it is always moving. We created this work with the motif of the blue Moby, the mascot of the “Book of OCEAN,” so that people can experience this. Riding this moby will not only heal you with new sensations you have never experienced before, but will also prepare you to save the world with us.
What were some of the difficulties you faced in preparing for the exhibition, and what were some of the standout elements you focused on?
A: The most difficult part was the process of narrowing down the vast amount of art we wanted to express to fit the size of this exhibition. Even so, the teams at NANZUKA and PARCO were truly wonderful and gave us their full support, and as a result we were able to arrange the carefully selected art pieces.
S: I feel very lucky to have had such generous support from my team. I am very grateful for it, and I think it is that kind of support that allows artists like us to express ourselves freely.
How did you feel when you actually saw the completed exhibition hall?
S: I felt very happy. Usually things don’t go well due to various problems, but thanks to NANZUKA and the PARCO team, we were able to reach the opening smoothly. They’re like family to us.
Finally, do you have a message for the readers of Hypebeast?
A: It is truly an honor to be welcomed by the Japanese people. We respect the Japanese mentality of caring for each other. The Japanese culture, sensibility and craftsmanship are something that Westerners admire.
S: First of all I want to say thank you. Thank you so much. We are searching for new hype and uplifting possibilities by loving each other, and you can discover such things even in the context of fashion. We hope you will visit this exhibition!
Information:
Ocean — Temple of the Sacred Heart
Venue: PARCO MUSEUM TOKYO
Address: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 15-1, Udagawacho
Date: Friday, September 13 – Monday, September 30
Hours: 11:00-21:00
