Starting on October 26th, a collaborative exhibition between the Setouchi Triennale and Isetan Mitsukoshi was held at the Center Park/TOKYO Liberation Zone on the second floor of the Isetan Shinjuku Main Building for one week. On October 27th, during the exhibition, a talk event was held featuring Setouchi Triennale general director Fram Kitagawa and contemporary artist Shinro Ohtake, whose works have been featured at Benesse Art Site Naoshima and the Setouchi Triennale.


●Please tell us about your 2009 work, Naoshima Sento "I❤湯," and how it came about.

Ohtake: It's a public bath that opened in 2009, right next to Miyanoura Port on Naoshima. Two years earlier, Fukutake had contacted me, asking if I was interested in public baths, and I accepted, as I had fond memories of frequenting public baths with my friends as a child. On the site of a former car park, we created a new public bath that looks like it has been on the island for a long time, and we embedded artwork not only on the exterior but also inside the bath, with all the tiles and faucet parts being original. The public bath is used by tourists as well as local islanders, and its operation is entrusted to the Naoshima Town Tourism Association. When I was a child, public baths were places where locals exchanged information, and we wanted to create a similar familiar "gathering place" and so we created this bath.




●Where did he find the elephant sculpture at the boundary between the men's and women's baths at Naoshima Public Bath "I❤湯" and the Statue of Liberty inside the "House" in the Art House Project? Otake: The elephant sculpture was originally located at the entrance to the Hihokan Museum in Jozankei, Hokkaido. Twelve years before I created the Naoshima public bath "I❤湯," I was creating works that focused on places that the high-brow, fashionable contemporary art world dislikes or considers shameful. I was asked to write a series on Japan for the monthly magazine "Kaien," published by Fukutake Shoten, the predecessor of Benesse. For the series, I decided to focus on abandoned golf courses and abandoned love hotels, places that the contemporary art world ignores, and it was during the research that I came across the elephant sculpture. I fell in love with it at first sight, and I knew I wanted to own one someday. From the beginning, I felt that an elephant was an absolute necessity for creating a public bath.

For my work "Dreams on the Tongue/Peeking into the Sky," also located in Naoshima, I used a former dentist's office to create a new space, placing the goddess statue "Goddess of Freedom" within it. The idea for the statue began when I was always curious about the Statue of Liberty and the Victory of Samothrace that suddenly appear along national highways in rural areas, and I wondered why Japanese people erect them. It was originally used as a sign for a video rental store or something, but one day I was contacted and informed that it had suddenly become obsolete, and I acquired it. I never really had a use for it, so I left it next to my workshop for about 10 years, but I was finally able to put it inside the "sha." There are also other things I want when I see things like the giant bowling alley pins in the city, or the mysterious iron pillars and chimneys. Even a single pane of frosted glass makes old buildings completely different from today. Treasures are everywhere in the city, but there's no sense of appreciation for them. I think it's possible to create a work of art using only items salvaged from demolished buildings, without having to create something new.

Art House Project "Dentist" Shinro Ohtake "Dreams on the Tongue/Peeking at the Bokkon" Photo: Kenichi Suzuki

●You have many fans in the fashion industry, but how did you come up with the design for the "New Chanel" T-shirt?

Ohtake: That was a T-shirt I designed in about 10 minutes to give away to visitors to my exhibition. "New Chanel" was taken from the name of a bar in Uwajima (laughs). There was a perception that Japanese T-shirts were unfashionable, so I decided to make an unfashionable T-shirt instead. It seems that this spontaneous, contrary idea, created irresponsibly, was well received. Pursuing something that art professionals find repulsive can lead to unknown newness. Rather than chasing what's popular in the West, it's important to discover new values in local Japanese things. This will take a long time, though.

●What do you think about viewing art on islands rather than in museums?

Otake: I think the idea that artworks can only be found in museums is outdated. There are many important things to be found in things that are already there, like the chimneys in the city. Japan has a strong, manual approach to art, so it would be great to see a variety of perspectives emerge.

Kitagawa: For example, even if you're going to an island to see the Setouchi Triennale, I think it's best not to go on a package tour, but to simply experience the natural world without a manual. Experience the smell of the ocean, the sound of the waves, and let your senses guide you as you decide where to go next. My recommendation is Yoichiro Yoda's "ISLAND THEATRE MEGI (Megijima Masterpiece Theater)" installation on Megijima Island. It's a handmade reproduction of an old Manhattan movie theater, and watching old movies in a tiny theater with only 36 seats is a truly unique experience. I highly recommend you go and see it for yourself.


Note: "Shipyard Works" (Benesse House Museum), Art House Project "Haisha," Naoshima Public Bath "I❤Yu" (all on Naoshima), and "Needle Factory" (Teshima) are permanent exhibits. Please check the link below for information on facility closures.
http://benesse-artsite.jp/art/
Note: It has not yet been decided whether "Mekon" and "ISLAND THEATRE MEGI" (both on Megijima Island) will reopen after the art festival ends (after November 7, 2016). Please check the link below.
http://setouchi-artfest.jp/artworks-artists/artworks/megijima/


Return to Part 1: "Kitagawa Fram and Ohtake Shinro, two men who met through the Triennale, share their honest thoughts on the contemporary art world."

辻あい子