The Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale made me think about the real and fake issues in art.
As for the number of visitors to the art exhibitions held in Japan in 2018, the Mori Art Museum's "Leandro Erlich Exhibition" surpassed the nostalgic Louvre Museum exhibition, the Van Gogh exhibition, and the Impressionist exhibition, and ranked 1st with 610,000 people. In 2019, the Mori Art Museum's "Chiharu Shioda Exhibition" ranked 2nd with 670,000 people, following the "Dinosaur Expo" in 1st place. Since the same exhibitions at multiple venues were added up separately, "Klimt exhibitions" was 1st totally. It's great that a contemporary art exhibition attracted many visitors, but I felt unsatisfactory with both exhibitions. Rather than the artwork, the places for the exhibition were the main reason. That made me think about the real and fake issues in art.
In 2006, Erlich's first artwork, ”Tsumari’s House,” appeared at the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale. In the precincts of a shrine in downtown Tokamachi, he created the artwork of a mirror reflecting the exterior wall of a building placed on the ground. When you got up on the exterior wall and looked at the mirror, you could see yourself hanging from the exterior wall. I visited with 20 friends, and everyone had fun playing around as if they were children. As for the artwork of the fake outer walls of a private house that was typical in Tsumari, I felt the reality because it connected to the real townscape. Meanwhile, at the Mori Art Museum, the artworks were exhibited in a bland exhibition room without connection with the actual place. So, the fake feeling was outstanding.
"Kinare" is the Tokamachi Center of the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale. Famous artists had installed their temporal artworks on the huge water surface in the center of the building, but there was no affinity with the place beyond utilizing the large space. Erlich's "Palimpsest: Pond in the Sky" in 2018 dispelled that. A virtual image of the building on the water was reproduced with tiles at the bottom of the pond. When viewed from a certain point, the real virtual image reflected on the surface of the water overlapped with the fake virtual image of the tile. As a viewer shifted, the real virtual image and the fake virtual image went out of synchronicity. It was just the artwork that should have come here because it maximized the effect of the huge water surface. This artwork acquired reality precisely since it connected to an actual real place.
In 2024, at the same place, Rintaro HARA and Yu HARA have created a maze on the water called "Amida Crossing" to match the virtual image of the tiles at the pond. It is a virtual image of the virtual image burned into the tiles at the bottom of the pond by ERLICH, which is based on the actual virtual image of the building reflected in the water surface. When the sun shines on it, the virtual image of the shadow of the maze is added. Multiple layers of fakery are realized in a real place, and this is certainly an installation that should have taken place here. Is Erlich happy, or does he think touché?
Chiharu Shiota's "House Memory" also made me realize the correlation between place and artwork. Inside an empty old house, black yarn was stretched, and various objects collected in the village were installed. The artwork brought to light the memories of the place, such as the presence of the people who lived in this village, the history of silkworm farming, and the local textile industry. It was contrastive to the installation in the exhibition room of the Mori Art Museum, which had no memory of a place, and did not make us feel the existence of the background. It showed the power that a real place gave to art.
My artist friends told me that Shiota's artwork at the 2022 Aichi Triennale, which was installed at the spinning factory in Ichinomiya, was more splendid than "House Memory."
According to my friend who was involved in the management of "House Memory", this artwork has a lot of insects. That is also the reality of the artwork exhibited in a place that is not in a museum.
2006 Leandro Erlich ”Tsumari’s House” (No longer in existence)
It is an artwork in Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale 2006. On the outskirts of downtown Tokamachi, the exterior wall of a typical neighborhood house was laid horizontally on the ground, with a mirror rising at an angle. The exterior wall reflected in the mirror appeared to be rising up in the middle of the city, and when visitors took various poses on the exterior wall on the ground, their reflection in the mirror appeared to be climbing or hanging from the wall.
English Website
2004 / 2017 Leandro Erlich ”Building” (Production year : 2004, The exhibition at Mori Art Museum has ended.)
This artwork was part of the exhibition "Leandro Erlich: Seeing and Believing," held at the Mori Art Museum in Roppongi, Tokyo in 2017. A building was placed on the floor of the museum's exhibition room, with a diagonal mirror rising from it.
English Website
2018 Leandro Erlich ”Palimpsest: pond of sky” (Now opening)
It is an artwork in Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale 2018. This artwork was exhibited at the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale 2018. A virtual image of a building reflected on the water is printed onto tiles and installed at the bottom of the pond in Kinare. When viewed from a certain point on the 2nd floor, the actual virtual image reflected in the water and the virtual image on the tiles match. When viewed from any other point, there is a discrepancy. However, the clouds in the actual sky and the virtual clouds of tile at the bottom of the pond are always different. In winter, when snow accumulates, both the actual virtual image and the virtual image on the tiles disappear. The virtual image of the tiles at the bottom of the pond even reproduces the slight color unevenness on the surface of the real image.
English Website
2024 Rintaro Hara + Yu Hara ”Amida Crossing” (Opening during the 2024 event)
This is one of the works in "87-Day Square Adventure with Captain MonET" exhibition held at Kinare, one of the main venues for the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale 2024. Based on the virtual image of an actual building reflected on the water, a virtual image made of tiles has been installed at the bottom of the pond. In 2024, on top of that, another virtual image of a maze on the water that matches the virtual image made of tiles has been superimposed. On a sunny day, the virtual image of shadow is added to the scene.
English Website
2018 Leandro Erlich ”Lost Winter” (Now opening)
This work was created inside Sansyo House in Matsunoyama, a former elementary school that has been converted into a lodging facility. Looking into the courtyard covered with snow as spring draws near, you can see yourself reflected in the three windows on the front, left and right.
English Website
https://maps.app.goo.gl/bQFQeBgiWxtDLXyh8
2009 Chiharu SHIOTA ”House Memory” (Now opening except winter)
Inside an old house, black yarn was stretched, and various objects collected in the village were installed. The artwork brought to light the memories of the place, such as the presence of the people who lived in this village, the history of silkworm farming, and the textile industry, which had been the local industry of Tokamachi.
English Website
2019 Chiharu SHIOTA ”The Soul Trembles” (The exhibition at Mori Art Museum has ended.)
This artwork was part of the exhibition "Chiharu SHIOTA : The Soul Trembles," held at the Mori Art Museum in Roppongi.
English Website
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reference
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大地の芸術祭ウェブサイト
Echigo Tsumari Art Field Website
森美術館ウェブサイト
Moir Art Museum Website
美術手帖ウェブ版
Wikipedia
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