Tatzu Nishi studied at Musashino Art University in Tokyo (1981–84) and the Kunstakademie Münster (1989–97). His temporary installation works are intended to change our experience of public monuments, statues, and architecture, thus giving new and closer access to them and altering the viewer’s perceptions. By constructing his works around various well-known urban monuments—in installations that often take the form of modern rooms resembling hotel suites—he transforms historically and architecturally significant objects into objects of fresh contemplation. Nishi began to work with this signature “reframing” strategy in the late 1990s. Some of his recent works include Discovering Columbus (2012), a living room constructed around a statue of Christopher Columbus in Manhattan; Nakanoshima Hotel (2012), in which he converted a public restroom facility in Osaka into a hotel room; and The Merlion Hotel (2011), a hotel room constructed around the Merlion monument in Singapore.