Two weekends ago in Tokyo the massive annual art extravaganza known as Roppongi Art Night took place. (It had been cancelled last year because of the events following 3.11). The show was headlined by world-renown artist Yayoi Kusama and, for 24 hours, art lovers descended upon a hodge-podge of galleries, museums and other participating exhibition spaces. In this short series we highlight some of our favorite works.
Image courtesy flickr user kzsktt36. Used with permission | click to enlarge
Artist Yoshiaki Kaihatsu, well-known for his large scale polystyrene foam sculptures, created Happo-en, a tea house made from discarded packaging and shipping materials. I saw a similar piece installed at Japan Society in 2007 and it was quite spectacular.
Our globalized environment is often a central theme to Kaihatsu’s work, and is meant to interact with viewers on a level that questions our assumptions about how – as consumers – we are programmed to think. In one of his more politically motivated works, Kaihatsu recently installed a makeshift structure titled “A Politician’s House” and installed it in Minamisoma, 20km from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant
Image courtesy flickr user kzsktt36. Used with permission | click to enlarge
Image courtesy flickr user kzsktt36. Used with permission | click to enlarge
Image courtesy flickr user kzsktt36. Used with permission | click to enlarge
