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Tomoko Takahashi
Shortlisted: 2000

Takahshi has become well known for installations in which she transforms reclaimed rubbish into crazy, complex and beautiful arrangements. She has created installations in schools, galleries, offices and even a police station, spending many months excavating the site, and even sleeping there, as she slowly gathers together material for the work. Her fascination with recycling seems to raise questions about social and economic waste, and the unquenchable thirst of capitalist consumerism.

Learning How to Drive 2000 Mixed media installation, dimensions variable © Courtesy the artist and Hales Gallery Photo: Tate Photography/Mark Heathcote

Tomoko Takahashi was born in Tokyo in 1966. She studied at the Tama Art University, Goldsmiths College and the Slade School of Fine Art between 1985 and 1998. She was shortlisted in 2000 for her installations that 'create a tension between chaos and order,' as shown in her exhibitions at the Saatchi and Chisenhale Galleries.

This information has been taken from The Turner Prize: Twenty Years, by Virginia Button, Tate Publishing, 2003.

View Tomoko Takahashi in the Tate Collection