Experiencing Art

The island of Naoshima in Kagawa, Japan offers many surprises. Reached only by ferry, Naoshima's charm comes from its partial isolation and intimacy. The streets are lined with a mix of traditional and modern Japanese homes, emphasis on the traditional. As we walked through the small town, we received tickets to what they said would be 6 recreated Edo period homes. The first one we entered honestly bored me, but only because I didn't understand what I was looking at..

The next home had a wonderful Japanese garden in front. After admiring the nicely trimmed landscaping, we removed our shoes and entered a dark room. Once my eyes adjusted I realized the center of the room was missing the bamboo floor and instead had a giant black pool. In the pool were many one-digit digital displays producing a seemingly random progression on numbers and letters. I was mesmerized. It didn't take long to realize these recreated Edo homes we fused with contemporary art! It was no wonder the first home was so confusing!

My favorite of the buildings held an installation by James Turrell. No more than eight people could enter the large building at any one time. Each person is led into the building by assistants because inside it is pitch black (it's very scary not being able to see your hands in front of you). They sit you down on a bench after winding through the dark hallways. I sat staring into the darkness wondering what would come next. My eyes played tricks on me. Blobs of blacks floated around as my eyes attempted to cope with the darkness. After three minutes a gray rectangle suddenly appeared in the distance. Then we stood up very quietly and began to walk through the darkness to the faint light in the distance. The assistants stopped us a few feet from the box and proceed to tell us what we just experienced. The gray box had actually been on since we entered the room, but it was so faint it took multiple minutes for our eyes to adjust to seeing it. To top it off it really wasn't a gray rectangle it was a window into another giant room, lit too look like an even toned shade of gray.

From the experience I realized you don't always see what is right in front of you and when you do sometimes you can't understand the depth. I've never experienced art in such an all encompassing and profound way. By looking at light on a wall, I found a new appreciation for the world and how I see it.

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