Category: art

20th Century Recall

Posted on by Hijiri

There are more posts from the Setouchi International Art Festival… it’s gonna take me 2 more weeks or so to write about all I saw… I hope you stay with me, I try to mix in some other posts, too :)

This week, I’m taking you all to the one of the islands in Seto Inland Sea, Megijima (Megi Island / 女木島)!

From the Takamatsu port — right in front of the Liminal Air art I posted last week — you take this ferry…

((If you are familiar with the story of Momotaro, Megijima is where Momotaro went to fight the Onis… also known as Onigashima))

From Takamatsu, it is 200 yen and 20 minutes away.

Calm and gorgeous Seto Inland Sea…

Hello, Megijima!

As you get out of the boat, you can’t help but notice this awesome installation… entitled “20th Century Recall -What is “TODAY” of Asia-” by Hagetaka Funjo.

Consisting of four sails on a grand piano, this installation resembles a ship at anchor. At times, music flows from the work to create a melody that resonates with the sound of the waves.

I didn’t get to listen to the music, but right next to the title card, there was a list of the songs that you could enjoy with the sound of the waves…

It reminded me of pirates…

You can sit here and be a part of the installation…

Very surreal… it was awesome…

Project for Sea -Light in Takamatsu

Posted on by Hijiri

Another art project by Noboru Tsubaki called “Project for Sea -Light in Takamatsu” (うみあかりプロジェクト).

Under the direction of Noboru Tsubaki, various local groups are working together to create large illuminated sculptures that will be exhibited in different locations in central Takamatsu near the station and port. On the eve of the festival, the sculptures will be unveiled in a special event at the port.

((From the festival evening below — all the illuminated sculptures gathered around the station and the port. I wish I were here for this, but I got in a bit too late. Only this picture below is from the Setouchi International Art Festival website, photo by Osamu Nakamura))

After this evening, each illuminated sculpture has placed all over the Takamatsu city, lot of them are placed in a long arcade area, main shopping area in Takamatsu. As I was walking around, I found many of them, here are some photos of what I saw!

I loved seeing the details that they put into each sculpture.

Some were hung in the arcade ceiling.

Each sculpture was created by the local art schools or groups under the direction of Noboru Tsubaki, I can tell they had so much fun creating! I would have joined if I had the opportunity… I think it’s awesome to get everyone involved for the art festival.

Prosthetic Restoration of Our Memory

Posted on by Hijiri

Next up is “PROM: Prosthetic Restoration of Our Memory” by Noboru Tsubaki. The mirrored building caught my eye immediately.

Tsubaki has cloaked the former Takamatsu Port Administration Office in mirror panels so that the structure merges with the surrounding scenery. The interior space houses a café and an exhibit designed to stir memories of the people who used to pass through this port. Various remnants of the building such as ferry timetables are presented in the form of a relief.

These title panels are placed for each work and also numbered — they have the Passport and you can collect stamps from each work you see. Kind of like a stamp rally. I wish I were there long enough so I could have joined the stamp rally… I’m sure kids would love that :)

Inside, there was a huge screen with changing objects… This used to be a Takamatsu Port Administration Office, I saw few things from the port office, it was all painted over in white…

Liminal Air -core-

Posted on by Hijiri

I think I saw this art work the most while I was there — “Liminal Air -core-” by Shinji Ohmaki. It was placed right by the Takamatsu station port, where all the ferries to the islands comes and goes.

The mirror surfaces of these pillars capture the changes that occur in light and color through the day, allowing us to see the outer world from a totally different perspective. The appearance of the pillars alters depending on the angle from which they are viewed or the time of day. They present individuals as seen through the eyes of others and, at the same time, serve as a gate to the world of Takamatsu.

It did look different each day and I quite enjoyed this area.

One weekend, there was a Bossa Nova Festival by the gate…

and other weekend, there was a Jazz Festival here, too…

Seto Inland Sea in the background, listening to live music here was such a treat. Really mellow, calm and nice time… sigh. Wish I could do this all the time… :)