Nagi Moca: Sun

The third and final section of the unique museum in Nagi is called "Sun" and is basically a huge cylinder set on a north south axis.

 

The artwork contained within is titled "heart" and is by artists Shusuka Arakawa and Madeline Gins. Entry into the cylinder is via a small room underneath. The walls are covered with photographic portraits by local residents of Nagi. A dark, enclosed spiral staircase leads up....

 

The interior of the cylinder is somewhat disorienting and playful, and at first the bright light from the end makes everything a silhouette and not at all clear. As one walks up to the end and look back it all becomes clearer.

 

The room contains a model of the famous zen garden from Ryoan-ji in Kyoto but also includes a reflection of it with radial symmetry, not mirror symmetry. 

The Nagi Museum of Contemporary Art in the mountains of Okayama is a unique experience created through a collaboration of the famous architect Arata Isozaki and several artists. The other two sections are called Earth, and Moon.

Nagi Moca, "Moon"

The Museum of Contemporary Art in the tiny town of Nagi in Okayama is a unique collaboration between architect and artist. The building entitled "Moon" is by architect Arata Isozaki and artist Kazuo Okazaki.

 

The name "Moon" refers to the orientation of the building, a long narrow shape composed of an arc and a straight line. The line points towards the moon at 10pm on the Autumnal Equinox.

 

The artwork is titled "Hisashi that which supplements" and is composed of 2 small sculptures on the flat wall and 2 curved granite benches along the curved wall.

 

It is a large minimal space filled with light. Hisashi is a Japanese word for eaves and refers to the sculptures which are made by pouring plaster so it overhangs an edge, and when dry is then hung on the wall.

 

The other two architectural installations that make up the museum are Earth, and Sun.

Nagi Moca "Earth"

Nagi is a very small town in the mountains of Okayama Prefecture that is home to a very unusual Museum Of Contemporary Art.

 

The museum was designed by renowned architect Arata Isozaki and is unusual in that the architecture was designed in collaboration with a group of artists to display works that could not be displayed in a normal museum context.

 

The three sections of the museum are named Earth, Sun, and Moon, though these names have nothing to do with the art within but rather the orientation of the buildings. The first one encountered is "Earth", and it was my favorite.

 

The artwork "Utsurohi" is by artists Aiko Miyawaki. Steel rods are planted in beds of stones. Some of the stones are under water, some not. Some of the artwork is outside, some not. The combination of textures, steel, stone, water, and concrete combining with light, shadow and reflection gives an ever changing display as you walk around it and as the sun and clouds move across the sky.

 

Nagi is a little off the beaten track but is well worth a visit. We were there on an overcast day and I hope to go back on a day with better weather and light.

 

Btw, Aiko Miyawaki was Arata Isozaki's wife when the museum was designed.

The other two building/artworks that make up the museum are Sun, and Moon.