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Hiroshi Sugimoto A journey through the tea room (Part 2)

2020.10.19

From the dream shape left behind by the Heian people to Hiroshi Sugimoto's "Pure Land of Lazuli"

Kyoto City Kyocera Museum of Art's ``Hiroshi Sugimoto Lazuli Pure Land'' remained active until October 10th. From Kyoto, a city deeply connected to Buddhism, what is the ``Pure Land of Lazuli'' expressed through an ambiguous approach? Now, I would like to look back on my interview with Hiroshi Sugimoto.

 

The Heian people imagined what the Pure Land would be like.
Sugimoto also showed it at the exhibition.

 

The current main building of the Kyoto City Kyocera Museum of Art is an Imperial Crown-style building built in 1933 to commemorate the enthronement of Emperor Showa, and opened as the ``Grand Rei Memorial Kyoto Museum of Art.'' After the war, there was a time when the main building and the entire grounds were requisitioned by the Japanese military stationed there, but the requisition was lifted in 1952 and the name was changed to the Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art. This redevelopment included a large-scale renovation of the main building and the construction of a new exhibition building, "Higashiyama Cube," to display contemporary art, which reopened in May 2020. It was jointly designed by architects Jun Aoki and Tetsuo Nishizawa.

 

Kyoto City Kyocera Museum of Art Photo: Takeshi Kurita Kyoto City Kyocera Museum of Art Photo: Takeshi Kurita

Kyoto City Kyocera Museum of Art
Photography: Takeshi Kurita

The first exhibition at Higashiyama Cube is the Kyoto City Kyocera Museum of Art's opening commemorative exhibition, ``Hiroshi Sugimoto: Lazuli Pure Land''. Speaking of Hiroshi Sugimoto,1970Since the 1990s, he has gained international acclaim for his photographic works using large-format cameras, thorough concepts, and advanced techniques.2000Since 2011, he has been attracting even more attention for his diverse activities, including architecture, three-dimensional works, stage production, writing, and garden creation. On the other hand, collecting and researching antiquities and historical materials has been a long-standing theme.

 

Born in Tokyo in 1948, Sugimoto has been based in the United States since 1970, but for a time he ran an antiques dealer in Soho, New York, and often visited Kyoto, which had a considerable influence on him. I have received it. He also has some works shot and produced in Kyoto.

 

Although Sugimoto has held many exhibitions at famous museums both in Japan and abroad, this will be his first large-scale solo exhibition at a public museum in Kyoto. Although Sugimoto has held many exhibitions in Europe and the United States, he seems to have had a special feeling and thought behind the exhibition design here in Kyoto, Okazaki, where the museum itself has a long history.

 

“When I was offered this exhibition, I thought of a fragment of a roof tile from Hoshoji Temple that I had acquired many years ago.”

 

Saying so, Sugimoto showed me a fragment of a Tomoe tile (eaves-maru tile) from the Heian period.


[Hoshoji Temple tiles] Heian period Photography: Yuji Ono [Hoshoji Temple tiles] Heian period Photography: Yuji Ono

《Hoshoji Temple》Heian period
Photography: Yuji Ono

Thinking back to the era of peace
What is the idea of ​​creating an imaginary temple?

 

“The area around the current Kyoto City Kyocera Museum of Art, the nearby Kyoto City Zoo, and Okazaki Park used to include Hoshoji Temple, which was built at the request of the retired Emperor Shirakawa, as well as Sonshoji Temple, Saishoji Temple, Enshoji Temple, Joshoji Temple, and Enshoji Temple. Huge temples bearing the name 'Katsu' were built one after another. These were large-scale projects during the Insei era, and are sometimes collectively called Rokushoji."

 

Although the name of the era is ``Heian,'' it was a period of ``unrest'' as plagues and wars continued. What came to Sugimoto's mind were Retired Emperor Shirakawa (1053 – 1129) and Hoshoji Temple. Moreover, it is said that Hoshoji Temple had an 81-meter-high octagonal nine-story pagoda. When you hear that the existing five-storied pagoda of Toji Temple is 55 meters high, it is hard to believe that there was a pagoda 1.5 times that tall, but it must have been truly spectacular, and it was a demonstration of the power of the retired emperor. right.

 

“When I came up with the idea of ​​holding an exhibition at a museum located in a corner of Okazaki, I came up with the idea of ​​building an imaginary temple within the exhibition room.Based on that, I divided the space. , I decided to draw a flow line and display my works and the antiquities I had collected so far based on a certain theme.''

《Yakushi Nyorai Hanbutsu》 Heian period, wooden painting, photo: Yuji Ono 《Yakushi Nyorai Hanbutsu》 Heian period, wooden painting, photo: Yuji Ono

《Yakushi Nyorai Hanbutsu》 Heian period, wooden painting
Photography: Yuji Ono

As you enter the venue, you will see a small hanging Buddha made during the Heian period, approximately 20cm in diameter, on display. It is a statue of Yakushi Nyorai with a plump face and a medicine pot in his hand. As you continue walking, you will eventually come to a long hallway. At the end of the exhibition, there is a work called Lazuli Box (Colorless), which is made by crushing transparent optical glass and putting it into a box made of plate glass, with a light source behind it. The shattered glass is said to be fragments and scraps from the process of creating glass works that Sugimoto has created.

 

``In the long hallway leading to the Lazuli Box, we placed 13 optical glass five-ring towers, evenly spaced.・Wind and sky” are expressed by entrusting each shape to each, and are layered vertically. I designed it using optical glass as a material, and the part that represents "water" is now a "seascape." Each ocean is different. The oceans I've photographed from all over the world are collected here."

 

This can be seen as a metaphor for the belief in Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, which, as per Buddhist teachings, sees all the world.

 

《Optical Glass Five Ring Tower》2011/ 1980© Hiroshi Sugimoto / Courtesy of Odawara Art Foundation 《Optical Glass Five Ring Tower》2011/ 1980© Hiroshi Sugimoto / Courtesy of Odawara Art Foundation

“Hiroshi Sugimoto Lazuli Pure Land” exhibition view
2011/ 1980 © Hiroshi Sugimoto

 

 

[Optical Glass Five Ring Tower] 2011/ 1980 Hiroshi Sugimoto Collection of Odawara Art Foundation © Hiroshi Sugimoto / Courtesy of Odawara Art Foundation [Optical Glass Five Ring Tower] 2011/ 1980 Hiroshi Sugimoto Collection of Odawara Art Foundation © Hiroshi Sugimoto / Courtesy of Odawara Art Foundation

“Hiroshi Sugimoto Lazuli Pure Land” exhibition view
2011/ 1980 © Hiroshi Sugimoto

 


From the monochrome sea
To the sea of ​​colors formed by prisms

 

As you continue along the route, the next vast space is filled with color. After seeing the transparent glass Olympic Tower and the monochrome sea that appeared there, I was a little confused by the strong colors that jumped into my eyes. Sunlight passes through an optical glass prism and is separated into various colors. This group of works captures this. Vibrant colors and delicate gradations from color to color. There are colors here that cannot be expressed with oil paints, mineral pigments, or ordinary photographs.

 

“The person who discovered spectroscopy using a prism was Isaac Newton (1642 – 1727), a British physicist who laid the foundations of modern physics, in 1666.At that time, Europe was under threat from the plague. To escape, Newton returned to his hometown of Woolsthorpe to continue his research, and some of his most important discoveries and ideas, such as the discovery of universal gravitation, were made at this time. Research in optics was one of them."

 

Beyond this exhibit is the first edition of Isaac Newton's ``OPTICKS,'' which Sugimoto owns. Apparently, he happened to find it at an auction some time ago and acquired it.

OPTICS OPTICS

《OPTICKS》 Series “Hiroshi Sugimoto Lazuli Pure Land” exhibition view
© Hiroshi Sugimoto

OPTICS OPTICS

《OPTICKS》 Series “Hiroshi Sugimoto Lazuli Pure Land” exhibition view
© Hiroshi Sugimoto

“I named this series of color works OPTICKS, which is, of course, a nod to the title of Newton's book, in homage to his accomplishments, and I named the exhibition space ``Newton's Mausoleum.'' This means that the imagined ``temple'' enshrines not only Buddhas but also giants in the history of science.''

 

After passing through the room of OPTICKS, a color work that is rare among Sugimoto's works, a monochrome world unfolds again. The ``Sea of ​​Buddhas'' room, where the Sendaibutsu and Chuzono statues of the main hall of Rengeo-in Temple (Sanjusangendo) were photographed, will appear.

 

“Sanjusangendo was proposed by the Cloistered Emperor Goshirakawa (1127 – 1192), and Taira no Kiyomori (1118 – 1181) provided financial support for its construction.It was completed in 1165. The Buddha's face is facing the direction of the sunrise, so when the sun rises, the Buddha's face shines all at once.In order to capture this moment, I set out to capture this moment during the early morning hours, starting from sunrise until the sun is blocked by the eaves of the building. I divided the Thousand Standing Buddha into 48 photos and took them over a period of several days.This was an attempt to convey as much of Emperor Goshirakawa's intentions as possible through the photos. It was captured from a very high angle so that the faces of the Buddha statues lined up in the background can be clearly seen without overlapping each other.''

 

This room, lined with giant prints of the Buddhas of Sanjusangendo, is also a spectacular sight.

《Buddha Sea (Chuson)》《Buddha Sea》1995© Hiroshi Sugimoto / Courtesy of Gallery Koyanagi Provided by: Myohoin 《Buddha Sea (Chuson)》《Buddha Sea》1995© Hiroshi Sugimoto / Courtesy of Gallery Koyanagi Provided by: Myohoin

≪Buddha Sea≫ Series ``Hiroshi Sugimoto Lazuli Pure Land'' exhibition view
© Hiroshi Sugimoto

《Buddha Sea (Chuson)》《Buddha Sea 007》1995© Hiroshi Sugimoto / Courtesy of Gallery Koyanagi Provided by: Myohoin 《Buddha Sea (Chuson)》《Buddha Sea 007》1995© Hiroshi Sugimoto / Courtesy of Gallery Koyanagi Provided by: Myohoin

≪Buddha Sea≫ Series ``Hiroshi Sugimoto Lazuli Pure Land'' exhibition view
© Hiroshi Sugimoto

``The next room also has a hanging Buddha of the Medicine Buddha, ancient glass ornaments, and Marcel Duchamp's work ``The Bride, Stripped Naked by Her Bachelors'' ( We photographed objects (commonly known as large glass), made them into small prints, and exhibited objects such as ``Wood Box'' that were sandwiched between glass.

 

Several glass tea bowls are also on display here, including the Glass Tea Bowl White Lazuli, which was made on Murano Island in Venice. One of them, ``Glass Bowl Fountain,'' is a homage to Duchamp's ``Fountain.'' It contains ideas and wit typical of Sugimoto, who calls himself a Duchampian. I want you to imagine the shape.

 

Now, this temple, conceived by Sugimoto, was designed based on the philosophy of the Oriental Ruriko Pure Land. ``Ruri'' in the exhibition name refers to lapis lazuli, a semi-precious stone and one of the Buddhist cloisonné jewels. In other words, the color name of dark blue. It is also an old name for glass. In Buddhism, the term ``Pure Land'' refers to a pure land where Buddhas and Bodhisattvas live, free from all earthly desires and impurities. As the belief in the Western Pure Land of Amida Nyorai became popular, the Joruri world, the Buddhist land of Yakushi Nyorai, came to be called the Eastern Pure Land.

 

The Yakushi Nyorai appeared at key points. He also felt the presence of Kanzeon Bodhisattva, who looks out over the world. The thousand bodies of Buddha were illuminated by the morning sun, showing us that this is what the Pure Land is like. Or maybe they're making an Olympic tower out of glass. It displays ancient glass ornaments and even shows homage to the glass works of Marcel Duchamp, the founder of modern art. Optical glass is also used on the floors of shrine buildings. To top it all off, he installed a glass tea room over a pond in the museum's garden. These are all the dreams of Sugimoto, who tried to create a Pure Land in this world that lies beyond human wisdom such as religion and science, and, going back even further, the dreams of retired emperors who wished to once again be proud of their prosperity in the next life. It makes you think it was a dream about cooking.

Hiroshi Sugimoto

Born in 1948. After moving to the United States in 1970, he continued to create in 1974 while traveling back and forth between New York and Japan. His representative works include the ``Seascape'' and ``Theatre'' series. He opened the architectural design office "New Materials Research Institute" in 2008 and the cultural facility "Odawara Cultural Foundation Enoura Observatory" in 2017. At the Hawk's Well, for which he created the direction and space, will be performed at the Paris Opera in the fall of 2019. His books include ``The Moss Child,'' ``The Present Image,'' and ``The Origin of Art.'' He was awarded the 2001 Hasselblad International Photography Award, the 2009 Prince Takamatsu Memorial World Culture Award (painting category), the Medal with Purple Ribbon in the fall of 2010, and the 2013 Order of Arts and Letters Officer of France. He was selected as a Person of Cultural Merit in 2017. ``Hiroshi Sugimoto's Lazuli Pure Land'' is being held until October 2020th (Sunday) as the opening ceremony of the Kyocera Museum of Art, Kyoto, which completed a large-scale renovation in 10. "Enoura Kitan" is scheduled to be released in October 4.

◆“Hiroshi Sugimoto Lazuli Pure Land”/Ended

Held at the Kyocera Museum of Art, Kyoto until October 10th. Glass Tea Room Monchoan will remain open to the public until January 4, 2021, even after the exhibition ends.

124 Okazaki Enshojicho, Sakyo Ward, Kyoto City

075-771-4334(受付時間/10:00~18:00 12月28日~1月2日を除く)

 

Text by Yoshio Suzuki
Photography by Hokuto Shimizu (Portrait for Hiroshi Sugimoto)

Special thanks to Yuji Ono

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