James Turrell At Naoshima
I went back to Naoshima again in September, staying at the Benesse Art Site. There are a number of installations in the town and a couple of spectacular buildings by Tadao Ando. The view of the Seto Inland Sea makes it even more beautiful. This time, however, what really caught my attention was the works by James Turrell. He makes large rooms and space where light itself becomes the object. You actually step inside his art. It cannot be described, it has to be experienced. He notes that he works with frequencies of light that resonate, based on distance to the wall ahead of you. In other words, what you see is what your brain creates out of the visual stimula. Leave it to your mind to appreciate the rest.
Open Sky (2004，Naoshima) can be viewed at anytime, but a special sunset viewing, Night Program, is also available.
From wikipedia:
Turrell's works defy the accelerated habits of people especially when looking at art. He feels that viewers spend so little time with the art that it makes it hard to appreciate.(Quote from Artinfo)
"I feel my work is made for one being, one individual. You could say that's me, but that's not really true. It's for an idealized viewer. Sometimes I'm kind of cranky coming to see something. I saw the Mona Lisa when it was in L.A., saw it for 13 seconds and had to move on. But, you know, there's this slow-food movement right now. Maybe we could also have a slow-art movement, and take an hour."
PBS Special Art21 website: Spirituality
I can't find any video that really does his works at Naoshima justice, but a similar room where you can watch the sky both above and below can be found here (with interview):
This is in German with English subtitles:
(3 bottom photos from Yoji Kinoshita's blog)
Comments
And it is quite apparently empty.
I offer lots of pictures of the sky - and other surroundings - on my sailing blog. I don't pretend to be "creating" anything. It isn't art.
I agree we should take time to view what is around us, to be aware, to contemplate the colors, space, time, shapes, sounds, and so on. But I don't think we need an artist to "present" it to us. We should just experience it directly.
Artists can provide a filter to get us to experience things in a different way, or to draw our attention to aspects which we normally do not consider. But this stuff leaves me flat, feeling like someone needs to step outside (in somewhere other than a city), beathe deep, and open their eyes.
Or am I missing something?
What's my point? Well, if you get 13 seconds for a Mona Lisa, be happy. Meanwhile, live the slow life in your own part of the world, wherever that may be. Right now, for instance. Why read my comment? Wander outside and look at the sky. :)
Arguing about art is fun, arguing about the sky less so (unless we are talking about the weather). But Naoshima is not just about art on the walls, it is an experience.
As part of the Chichu Museum, they also have Monet's mural sized water lilies, huge and strangely wonderful oil paintings that sell for almost £41 million at Christie's in
London.