2024.04.24 | Uchiboso Art Festival
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One of the main venues for this event is the sustainable farm and park KURKKU FIELDS in Kisarazu. It was created by Takeshi Kobayashi who also serves as the general producer of the "Hyakunengo Art Festival- Uchiboso Art Festival". It is a facility where you can experience the cycle of "agriculture", "food" and "nature" on a vast site of about 30 hectares. In 2022, the accommodation "cocoon", a villa where you can experience a creative lifestyle, will open, and in 2023, the "Underground Library" where you can spend a comfortable time with books will open. There are restaurants, markets, charcuterie, bakeries, and more, so it is a place where you can spend a relaxing time, so you should include half a day in your schedule when visiting art works. In addition, there have been many art works scattered around the site so far, but there are several new works installed for the Uchiboso Art Festival, which are worth seeing!
There is also an information counter at KURKKU FIELDS where you can purchase guidebooks and merchandise.
As soon as you pass through the entrance gate, you will see Yayoi Kusama 's Flowers that Bloom Tomorrow on the hill to the right. The large sculpture, with its vibrantly colored petals and leaves and repeated polka dots and mesh patterns, blooms vibrantly on the green grass, giving you a sense of energy. There are four of Kusama's works in the venue, including this one, so be sure to try them out.
Yayoi Kusama" GUIDEPOST TO THE NEW WORLD"
Yayoi Kusama "Infinity Mirrored Room - Visions in the Mind"
Next, we went to the Underground Library, which lies like a cave, hidden beneath the soil of lush trees and flowers. Just as plants and vegetables grow in symbiosis with the microorganisms in the soil, this library was created with the concept of burrowing underground to encounter books, accumulate knowledge, and cultivate the power of imagination. During this season, when the grass is lush, the exterior is beautiful and mesmerizing.
Newly installed in the hall space of the museum this time is a sculpture by Kohei Nawa called "PixCell-Crow/Welding Mask/VR Controller (R)/Wooden Ladder."
The sunlight pouring down from the ground penetrates the glass, and the birds glittering divinely are so beautiful that you'll want to watch them for hours. (*The space is limited, so viewing time is approximately 10 minutes...) As you stare blankly at the scene where books on various cultures, such as food, nature, art, philosophy, music, and life and death, selected for this library, are reflected in the artwork, you will feel that 100 years ago, and 100 years from now, it is books that humans obtain "knowledge" from.
"This is a work from the PixCell series, which combines multiple motifs with surrealism in mind. Surrealism flourished exactly 100 years ago and explored the possibilities of the human unconscious. In today's environment, where VR, the metaverse, and AI have developed and people's imaginations have expanded and spread, it has taken on a new touch. By looking back 100 years ago, I can imagine what art will look like 100 years from now." (Nawa)
After spending some quiet time in the library, we next headed to Shimabuku 's "Mr. and Mrs. Soil: BED PEACE after 55 years." It's hard to judge the distance in a photo, but when you look down from the top of the hill, you'll be mesmerized by the unique appearance of Tsuchio and Tsuchiko. On this day, it had just rained and the ground was poor, so we couldn't get close, but if the conditions are good, you can go up close and enjoy the view.
"I placed pieces of soil from two far-away places in the shape of a person. The meeting of soil. An earth honeymoon. Watching this, I was reminded of the saying, 'When people die, they return to the soil.' Perhaps these two pieces of soil were really people. I also realized that I had seen these two people somewhere before. John and Yoko at the Hilton Hotel in Amsterdam in 1969. The year I was born was the height of the Vietnam War, but even now, 50 years later, fighting is continuing in Ukraine, Gaza, and all over the world. BEDPEACE 55 years later. I think the middle of the story, around 50 years from now, is important to think about 100 years from now. If someone takes over in 50 years, and the story is passed on, it will surely be understood 100 years from now. It will reach people. Will the fighting still be going on 50 years from now, and 100 years from now?" (Shimabukuro)
As I looked at the works while reading Shimabukuro's message in the guidebook, I remembered the words of Takeshi Kobayashi who said that the name KURKKU FIELDS was derived from The Beatles' "Strawberry Fields Forever." The power of creativity and imagination is what is important and can change the world. Thinking of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, who continued to send out such messages, and of the never-ending war, I once again wished for world peace together with Tsuchio and Tsuchiko.
Olafur Eliasson: Mirror my orgasmic journey in me
And this is what was unveiled on April 18th. You can view the artwork inside a capsule-like spaceship-like building that was made to blend in with the soil of KURKKU FIELDS.
Colorful hand-blown glass pieces are arranged to suggest transparent, overlapping circles and ellipses. For the last ten years, Eliasson has been creating glass and watercolor paintings inspired by themes of color, transparency and layering. Many of the titles of these works are inspired by the similarity between circular and elliptical compositions and historical paintings of the Buddha seated in front of a mandala. In this sense, the balanced and symmetrical work offers an abstract and condensed image for meditation and development.
As an Olafur fan, I feel like I want to meditate in this forever.
In this coming season, the fresh greenery of KURKKU FIELDS is truly beautiful, and it feels good just to stroll along the promenade, but while appreciating the art, we also recommend sitting on a bench or in the shade of a tree and looking at the pond named Mother Pond. The source of the blessings of nature is the sun, soil, and water, and the ecosystem that is nurtured based on them. This pond surrounded by forest is a place where various creatures such as the rare forest tree frog breed from spring to summer, and many wild birds use it to hibernate from autumn to winter, making it a place bustling with life all year round.
Near Mother Pond, you can also see Sebastian Masuda 's Gaping Hole Secret and Camille Henrot 's Derelitta.
Camille Henrot, born in Paris, is a female artist who takes inspiration from a wide range of fields, including anthropology and natural history, and sublimates them into unique works. This sculpture, inspired by Sandro Botticelli's painting "La Derelitta," which depicts an abandoned woman lamenting, also evokes the image of putting one's foot on a wheel and about to move forward. It is a fascinating work that gives the sense of power, as if it were releasing the forces that suppress the diversity of life.
Fabrice Hybert 's The Man of Besides is another permanent artwork that is an indispensable part of the KURKKU FIELDS landscape. This work was born in the French town of Bessines in 1991, and since then, more than 100 clones and copies have spread across the globe. "It blends into its surroundings by spraying water from the 11 holes in its body, and continues to stand there as a guardian of nature and life." I personally love this beautiful concept and the somewhat unbalanced unique appearance, which is appealing.
And at the foot of the edible garden, there is a quiet work called "Level 7 feat. "Myth of Tomorrow"" by Chim↑Pom from Smappa!Group. This work was born from a project to guerrilla-install a painting depicting the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident that occurred on March 11, 2011, in the gap at the bottom right of Taro Okamoto's mural "Myth of Tomorrow," which depicts the chronicle of Japan's exposure to radiation, located at Shibuya Station.
The skull-shaped black smoke rising from the reactor building was drawn on paper in the same style as "Myth of Tomorrow," pasted onto a PVC board, and installed as part of a continuous mural in a natural way, which attracted much attention. This work is a three-dimensional version of the skull cloud that was shown at the Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum in 2013. It is also worth noting that it is installed right next to the solar power generation panels. From this location, it raises the question, "How do we face energy and the risks of its production?", which remains an issue even more than 10 years after the disaster.
The Flack Building, a multipurpose space at the farthest end of the venue from the entrance, is also home to works that will make any art lover drool, so be sure to check it out. Anish Kapoor 's Mirror（Lime and Apple mix to Laser Red）(Lime and Apple mix to Laser Red) and Yayoi Kusama 's painting TIME GOES BY,DEATH APPROACHES come face to face in this unique space.
If you get hungry after looking at the many artworks, head to the dining and restaurant "Perus." In the dining area, you can enjoy seasonal pizza and wild boar keema curry while gazing at "Strata of Sentient Beings," a large painting on the wall by Yusuke Asai.
If you're visiting on the weekend, be sure to try the weekend-only lunch at "Perus." The fish dish prepared by Chef Yamana as a limited-time menu item is breathtakingly beautiful.
"Using the rich ingredients of the five cities of Uchiboso, I replaced the expression "sky, sea, and earth" from a macro perspective of "earth," and envisioned the earth 100 years from now. I used a fish (swordfish) appropriate for 2024, the Year of the Dragon, and fermented cabbage. I decorated it with soy milk bubbles, daikon radish, rape blossoms from the farm, and various other flowers. The dishes are set in vessels that resemble the blue sky or the vast sea, and the plants and flowers that sprout from the earth give the dish a contoured look." (Yamana)
You can also purchase vegetables grown at KURKKU FIELDS and other local ingredients at the market, so be sure to stop by!
Next, we will introduce the art works in Sodegaura City. Sodegaura City is located right after you get off at Kisarazu Kaneda IC on the Aqualine. All the art works can be viewed in Sodegaura Park or nearby, so if you are coming from Tokyo, it might be a good idea to visit there first.
With the Aqua-Line dramatically improving access to the city center, the area on the sea side of Sodegaura Station has seen rapid development in recent years, with large residential areas being formed. At the Uchiboso Art Festival, artworks will be displayed around Sodegaura Park, where seasonal flowers bloom and smell, transforming the area's history learning spot into an art space. First, head to the Aqua-Line Museum in Sodegaura Park, where Kim Tae-bong's SKY EXCAVATER is on display.
"Driving the Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line late at night, the continuous stream of lights passing by the train window leads me to an unknown place. I sometimes get that illusion. Is it the dark side of the moon, or a distant universe where the stars shine? At the time of construction, it was called the 'Apollo Project of Civil Engineering' because of the difficulty of the work, and a shield machine with an outer diameter of 14.14m was used to dig into the ground. In the not-too-distant future, these technologies and experiences will be repurposed to lead us to an unknown world." As the artist imagined, a spaceship-like space was created in the blinking lights of the ceiling of the memorial hall, where he exhibited his own materials on the construction process of the Aqua-Line.
I was surprised to find such a facility in the first place, but the Aqua-Line Museum is an annex of the Sodegaura City Local History Museum, and usually displays the history of Tokyo Bay and models introducing the Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line, as well as the materials used in its construction. I would love to see that too.
The second of our series of "I didn't know there was such a facility in Sodegaura Park!" is the "Former Shindo Family Residence." It is said to be the residence of the Shindo family, who served as magistrates at the end of the Edo period, and is designated as a cultural asset by Sodegaura City as a valuable building that conveys the lifestyle of upper-class farmers to the present day. It was renovated a few years ago, and the magnificent thatched roof is captivating. Here you can also view Hitomi Oonuki 's "Taguri, Yoseru, Yosuga, Fragment."
Upon entering, you are greeted by a beautiful piece of work in the shape of a woman's clothing made from glass fragments. Chiba Prefecture is said to have the largest number of shell mounds in the country, and there are many ancient traces, including the Yamano Shell Mound, near the exhibition site. The artist commented that he can feel the breath of his ancestors from the many "fragments" that have been excavated. He believes that "even though each one is an idle fragment, there is a definite sense of daily life there," and attempts to visualize the presence and traces of people who lived in this area through the clothing and fragments that have been passed down through the glass "fragments" that stand in the old house.
Located right next to the "Former Shindo Family Residence" is "Future Well" by Koichiro Azuma. He focused on the dynamism of "Kazusabori", a well-digging technique developed and expanded in the Obitsu and Koito River basins in the west Kazusa region, and expressed it by superimposing it on his signature large metal works. The work actually has a digging function, and a digging experience session will be held during the exhibition.
The last piece of art in Sodegaura City is Dadang Christanto" CAKRA KUL KUL IN CHIBA." It is on display on a farm road in the rice fields near the Sodegaura City Agricultural and Livestock Products Direct Sales Center "Yuri no Sato." When the wind blows, it spins like a windmill, making a pleasant clanging sound.
"Cakra Kul Kul", made mainly from bamboo, is a local folk art that can actually be found in the artist's hometown of Bali. Farmers set them up in rice fields before and after harvest season to give thanks to the gods for the harvest. The wish for a bountiful harvest will surely continue for 100 years to come. It was at that moment that I was convinced that the landscape that stretches out into the distance is one that I would like to preserve for 100 years to come.
We look back on the artworks we viewed while munching on Gaura-yaki, a popular product from Yuri no Sato, which is branded with Gaura, the mascot character of Sodegaura City.
The Uchiboso Art Festival's "LIFE ART" was filled with the various thoughts and wishes of artists in Uchiboso, an area rich in nature, despite being located very close to the big city of Tokyo. Each artist felt what they wanted to leave behind in 100 years through their work, and thought about what they could do now to leave them behind. The answer was not immediately obvious, but it may be even more real for local people living in Chiba. I hope that local people will come to this art festival in large numbers.
The next "LIFE ART" report <PART 2> will be visiting Ichihara City!
Photo: Eri Masuda
Text: Kana Yokota
