In today’s blog, we introduce the highly popular exhibition now on at the Hara Museum, Jean-Michel Othoniel, My Way, as well as the children’s workshop Enchanted Reality (Le Réel Marveilleux), with lots of quotes from the artist himself.
My Bed (Mon Lit) 2002 Murano glass, steel, aluminum, soft-furnishings, felt 290 x 240 x 190 cm ⒸJean-Michel Othoniel/Adagp, Paris 2012
Like other works in the show, this one makes use of colorful Murano glass. About the subject, Othoniel says: The bed was invented by people. It’s the place where they dream, make love, die. It’s an important motif that symbolizes life and death. The bed is the first thing we see upon entering the museum, a choice that the artist made with attention given to the unique nature of the Hara Museum space, given its original identity as a private residence. The visitor is sure to feel a sense of intimacy, as if visiting a home. “The visitor is like the prince in the story Sleeping Beauty,” Othoniel says, “who wanders into a castle only to find time has stopped and everyone inside is asleep.” It is a work that invites us to enter a dream-like story, a different reality.
The Chest of Secret (Le Coffre à Secrets) 2007 Verrerie de Saint-Just, Murano glass, wood, aluminium, mirror 84.5 x 71 x 50 cm ⒸJean-Michel Othoniel/Adagp, Paris 2012
This charmingly titled work is made with sheet glass from the French company Saint-Just. It was a special addition to the exhibition. Though it has not been not publically revealed, inside are a bottle of cognac and glasses. (For a related article, go here.)
Tears (Lagrimas) 2002 glass, water, table 140 x 500 x 70 cm ⒸJean-Michel Othoniel/Adagp, Paris 2012
The artist made Tears after a visit to Mexico. It is made up of glass vessels filled with water and various floating forms that appear to be offerings. Altogether, more than 2,000 parts went into the work, including body parts such as hearts and eyeballs, blood-red necklaces and stars, all of which sits upon a table with a horizontal length of five meters. Let its attractive force draw you into a microcosm. Upon leaving it, you might feel as if you are floating, having become another member of that same universe.
ⒸJean-Michel Othoniel/Adagp, Paris 2012
We go to the sunroom next, where tea was taken after a meal during the time the museum was a residence. Look out the window and you will see Double Necklace hanging from a branch of a ginkgo tree, and Banner n.1 next to it. Glittering under the light of day and glowing mysteriously at night, the artist talks about glass in this way: “It’s a natural material, so I want people to enjoy its expression as it changes in myriad ways under natural light.” Scattered around the room are other objects, made during the time he first started using glass, alluringly shaped objects that resemble body parts.
front: Black is Beautiful 2003 Murano glass 320 x 80 x 15 cm
behind: White Gold Mandorla (Mandorle d’Or Blanc) 2011 Murano glass, white gold leaves 130 x 60 x 15 cm ⒸJean-Michel Othoniel/Adagp, Paris 2012
This work is a double stranded necklace of black-colored glass beads. The title refers to the cultural movement launched by African-Americans during the 1960s, whose aim was to overthrow the prejudiced view that the skin color, hair and facial features of Blacks were inferior to those of Whites. In this work, one senses Othoniel’s gaze as it seeks to discover the unique beauty that lies in all things and all people.
Le Great Double Lacan’s Knot (La Grand Double Noeud de Lacan) 2011 mirror glass, metal 209 x 396 x 186 cm ⒸJean-Michel Othoniel/Adagp, Paris 2012 (Installation view photo by Hirotaka Yonekura)
As the artist explains: “This work takes as its motif the three orders that the psychoanalyst Jacque Lacan used to classify reasoning and creativity: the real, the symbolic and the imaginary. I put this at the end of the exhibit as I am interested in the emotional response of the Japanese, a people with rich sensibilities,” In recent years, his work has left much of its previous coquettishness and has taken on more abstract forms. In Le Great Double Lacan’s Knot and Lacan’s Knot, he uses mirrored glass, which combines metallic brilliance with transparency to convey a futuristic image.
Othoniel shares his thoughts about glass: “Until my encounter with glass, I went through a long process of trial and error. Glass has been widely known and used by a great variety of civilizations and cultures. There is no doubt everyone has experienced the magic of glass—its poetic appearance brings a little magic to our lives every day. It is a wonderful material that gives expression to my vision. By melting sand and solidifying it again, it becomes something that gives off a fantastic sparkle. At the same time, it becomes something that breaks extremely easily. I like the glitter and the transience. It’s exactly like human life.”
(Photo by Asako Suzuki）
Go further to the furthest corner of the first floor. Here you will enter the site of an on-going workshop for children called Enchanted Reality, which was especially conceived by the artist and co-sponsored by Bonpoint Japon as part of the exhibition. Using AR (augmented reality) technology, the workshop allows participants to view up to 12 of Othoniel’s works in 3D, including those in the exhibition and in other countries. The works appear in a large-screen projection along with the participant as soon as he or she holds up a pictogram that is detected by the camera. In this way, works that are scattered throughout the world can be experienced virtually. In another corner, children can enjoy drawing by coloring in pictures. Prizes will be given to submissions by the children.
This article introduces only a small part of the exhibition. The best thing to do is to come to the museum and experience Othoniel’s world in person. We hope you will come soon!
*As weekends tend to be crowded, a visit on a weekday is recommended.
*For this exhibition, thanks to permission from the artist, visitors are allowed to take photographs of the artist’s works. Please note, however, that picture-taking may be restricted during times of congestion.
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Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo
Jean-Michel Othoniel, My Way
Enchanted Reality (Le Réel Merveilleux)
January 7 (Saturday) – March 11 (Sunday), 2012
Hiroshi Sugimoto: From naked to clothed
March 31 (Saturday) – July 1 (Sunday), 2012