Airing Clean Laundry Outdoors, Books as Cosmology, 'Art Place Japan' Connects Art, People, Nature
Fresh off the press, Art Place Japan 'The Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale and the Vision to Reconnect Art and Nature' (Princeton Architectural Press, November 3, 2015) opens a window to all of us who are not part of the 500.000 people who were lucky to participate in Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale since 2000.
How does event reconnect art and nature as illustrated in book?
In Guided by Art through the Satoyama Landscape, the playful Tsumari in Bloom (page 34-35) wags its tale over the fields while House of Birds (page 37) stands in snowy landscape.
Yes, Human Beings Are Part of Nature and Terraced Rice Fields (page 58) can be the artist's canvas.
Featuring the snow notes that 'In the 1950's Tokamachi adopted the attitude of rather than antagonize. let's befriend the snow'. Gift for Frozen Village (page 76) illustrates that, 'participants planted 10,000 led lights in snow which they called 'seeds of light'
Old cooking pots and pans become art in Akiya (page 114)...
In Collaborations, I thought of airing clean laundry outdoors with White Project (page 181, pictured above), 'the white cloth made by members of the community was joined to represent the connection between the spirits of people, the world, and generations'.
The Art of Daily Life can come from the snail shell like formation of cars in parking lot (page 221).
As for Incorporating Art into Life, the family of late art critic Yusuke Nakahara donated his collection of 20,000 books which became part of installation The Cosmology of Yusuke Nakahara (page 223, pictured below) by Tadashi Kawamata.
'Art Place Japan' is authored by Fram Kitagawa, the general director of the event, with contributions from Lynne Breslin and Adrian Favell.
To learn more about Fram Kitagawa read Echigo-Tsumari: The Fram Kitagawa Philosophy interview by Adrian Favell (July 2009) on ART iT.
Connecting art, people and nature for Tokyo Thursdays # 307
(* Images reproduced with permission from Art Place Japan 'The Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale and the Vision to Reconnect Art and Nature' -Princeton Architectural Press, November 3, 2015- by Fram Kitagawa)