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"Seirensho" is a message to Japan. Composed of six artworks integrated with architectural functions, it was made by collaging parts of an abandoned house, which represents postwar Japanese culture, on the ruins left by Japanese modernization. These works are given the overall title "Hero Dry Cell." (Excerpts from the film narration)
This photo shows the last one of them: Solar Note. The six artworks are in sequence. Study MISHIMA Yukio before you go. No preparation is also good though. After all, you've got to feel before you know.
"... We stood by as postwar Japan becameinfatuated with economic prosperity, while it neglected the country as a whole, lost our national spirit, grasped for results without the correct means, resorted to temporary solutions and hypocrisy, and while it allowed Japan to sink into an emptiness of spirit ... Griding our teeth, we were forced to witness Japanese as they disgraced Japan's history and culture ..."
(Quoted from MISHIMA Yukio's Last Manifesto)
This photo shows the last one of them: Solar Note. The six artworks are in sequence. Study MISHIMA Yukio before you go. No preparation is also good though. After all, you've got to feel before you know.
"... We stood by as postwar Japan becameinfatuated with economic prosperity, while it neglected the country as a whole, lost our national spirit, grasped for results without the correct means, resorted to temporary solutions and hypocrisy, and while it allowed Japan to sink into an emptiness of spirit ... Griding our teeth, we were forced to witness Japanese as they disgraced Japan's history and culture ..."
(Quoted from MISHIMA Yukio's Last Manifesto)
The film you can see after a tour of the artwork of six titles done by YANAGI YUKINORI goes like this:
The first time I visited Inujima was on a small sailboat. I spent a night moored in the harbor and saw the sun rise over the hill where the ruins are located. This became my first "encounter" with Inujima. The sun at that moment of December 6, 1995 made an imprint on my retina, which was then developed into a six-part artwork Hero Dry Cell in Seirensho. And the afterimage of that sun emerged in the village as Inujima Art House Project, linked to the myriad gods of Japan.
I was back on the island of Inujima. This time I spent half the time of my stay for walking in the island neighborhood and appreciating the Art House Project and the rest for YANAGI's artwork. Seirensho ruins had to be skipped this time. I got absorbed in comprehending the artwork and didn't remember the place closes at 4:30. When I was about to go see Seirensho ruins part, it was already 4:29.
That's fine. I'll be back.
So welcome to Seirensho, a former refinery once spewing out dark smoke and now standing in serenity.
The first time I visited Inujima was on a small sailboat. I spent a night moored in the harbor and saw the sun rise over the hill where the ruins are located. This became my first "encounter" with Inujima. The sun at that moment of December 6, 1995 made an imprint on my retina, which was then developed into a six-part artwork Hero Dry Cell in Seirensho. And the afterimage of that sun emerged in the village as Inujima Art House Project, linked to the myriad gods of Japan.
I was back on the island of Inujima. This time I spent half the time of my stay for walking in the island neighborhood and appreciating the Art House Project and the rest for YANAGI's artwork. Seirensho ruins had to be skipped this time. I got absorbed in comprehending the artwork and didn't remember the place closes at 4:30. When I was about to go see Seirensho ruins part, it was already 4:29.
That's fine. I'll be back.
So welcome to Seirensho, a former refinery once spewing out dark smoke and now standing in serenity.
See another photo of F Art House. One of the side structures is shown here. In the left of the photo is a chimney of a former refinery or Seirensho, symbolizing Japan's frantic modernization effort and now standing in serenity.
The official translation of this artwork displayed in the house is "Yama-no-kami and Illuminated Sun Flanked by Mirrors." The materials used are: neon, neon transformer, programing circuit, painted steel, steel frame, slag, and water.
The house was refurbished and designed by architect SEJIMA Kazuyo. One of her representative works is Kanazawa's "21st Museum of Contemporary Art," done with NISHIZAWA Ryue.
The Kanazawa museum is round and transparent, quite different from Japanese traditional wooden architecture. Here she worked on refurbishing an unoccupied wooden Japanese house, which had an impressive truss structure which she retained beautifully in the refurbishment project. The building serves as a gallery, housing the artwork of YANAGI.
"Yama-no-kami" means the mountain goddess. It later came to refer to a demanding wife by the way. "Flanked by Mirrors" means that the Tsuboniwa courtyard-like structures attached on the right and left of the house respectively flank the artwork. These structures and wooden walls - and pillars of course - support the load. See the pillars; they are slender and cannot support the house alone.
The house was refurbished and designed by architect SEJIMA Kazuyo. One of her representative works is Kanazawa's "21st Museum of Contemporary Art," done with NISHIZAWA Ryue.
The Kanazawa museum is round and transparent, quite different from Japanese traditional wooden architecture. Here she worked on refurbishing an unoccupied wooden Japanese house, which had an impressive truss structure which she retained beautifully in the refurbishment project. The building serves as a gallery, housing the artwork of YANAGI.
"Yama-no-kami" means the mountain goddess. It later came to refer to a demanding wife by the way. "Flanked by Mirrors" means that the Tsuboniwa courtyard-like structures attached on the right and left of the house respectively flank the artwork. These structures and wooden walls - and pillars of course - support the load. See the pillars; they are slender and cannot support the house alone.
The artwork is entitled "Dollar Web Garden." Materials used are: olive trees, arrows, leaver lace, and insects alive and dead.
Take time, walk around and look for a one-dollar bill.
Try these fun-loving chairs. Can't help smiling and feeling happy while sitting there.
A little walk after the visit to I Art House brings you to this charming gazebo where you can sit down. When the International Art Festival was going on last year in 2010, many must have sat here, chatting and smiling. Your voice reverberates, which might give you a spirited-away sensation. I loved it.
Here's another picture of I Art House. Inside there are two panels of glass made in the same size. The one, as I wrote in the previous article, projects the doomsday in the eyeball; the other is a pane of glass with a special kind of sheet. Through the glass, you see the present Inujima. Looking back, your eyes would enjoy the flower field and the sea beyond. Can the future be this beautiful? How would we live to keep the flowers and the sea?
Let us think.
Let us think.