After last night's opening, this morning we set off for the rural city of Hikone - north of Osaka, in Shiga Province, sitting on the Eastern shore of the huge inland Lake Biwa. It's a city in contrast to the bright lights and bustle of Osaka - it seems a little sleepier - a pastoral retreat of a city - rice fields, traditional Japanese housing, overlooked by mountains on 3 sides.
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| Lake Biha |
Art Takahashi, the venue for Ben Cove's "Look-See" is the private residence of artist Ryo Takahashi and his wife, a purpose built modernist metal housed building, living quarters in one half and Gallery on the other. It's a curious space - all angles and slopes, and in keeping with the art spaces I've seen so far, small.
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| Art Takahashi |
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| Art Takahashi |
This venue was purposefully picked by Koh Yoshida to show Ben's work - playing with the Modernist-provocation that underpins "Look-See".
First job was to attach the 4 sheets of pre-painted pink wallpaper which acts as a backdrop to the constructed pieces, paintings and found photos which create the built environment of the finished piece. Once pasted, we made a start on attaching the wooden blocks, which, thanks to Ben's comprehensive, extensive and easy-to-follow plan, was good fun. Aptly, Koh commented that there was a feeling of building a structure in this process - precise measurements, careful placing and a feeling of a built form growing before your eyes.
In keeping with several of the Indefinable Cities exhibitions here, Ben's work will be shown alongside the work of an artist attached to the host Gallery - Ryo Takahashi's painting, redolent of the indefinable city theme, will sit in stark contrast to Ben's "Look-See". A bit left to do tomorrow, then,ahead of the opening at 6, and it'll be really interesting to see how the audience here differs from those that came to the first night in Osaka. |
| delicious food too |
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