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.

Vacation 2011: day 1, Yahata

For this years vacation I flew out of Fukuoka airport so was able to spend the day exploring a bit of Kitakyushu before my flight. First I headed to an area I had not been to before, Yahata.

I wanted to see the Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art as it was designed by Arata Isozaki. Later I will do a complete post on it.

From the hill on which the museum is located there are great views over Yahata!!!

Yahata is dominated by a big amusement park, Spaceworld, built around the theme of space. Most visitors to Yahata will be heading there and it even has its own JR station.

Next to Spaceworld is the small Kitakyushu Environment Museum which focuses on the environmental problems created by the areas industrialization and the steps taken to combat pollution both locally and globally. The building itself utilizes various sustainable technologies and while the displays have no english information its worth a visit at 100yen.

Next door is the Kitakyushu Museum of Natural History and Human History which was surprisingly good and large. The main hall has dozens of dinosaur skeletons and there are some quite good historical displays too.

The first steel works in japan were built in Kitakyushu and the first blast furnace, opened in 1901, has been preserved as an open air museum. Its located right next to Spaceworld station.

Nagi MOCA

Nagi is a small town in northern Okayama with a population of around 6,000 people, yet is home to a large Museum of Contemporary Art.

When we visited it there was an exhibition that featured a variety of artists, and the piece I enjoyed the most was by an Okayama artist, Gen Okabe, featuring a large "tunnel" constructed out of tree limbs. I saw a piece of his many years ago up in Kansai.

The occasional exhibits of modern art are not what this museum is primarily about. The museum is a collaboration between renowned architect Arata Isozaki and 4 artists who were asked to create artworks that would not be able to be displayed in a normal museum or gallery.

Opened in 1994, the three artwork/architecture pieces are titled Sun, Moon, and Earth, and are interesting enough that I will do a post on each one later.

Kitakyushu International Conference Center

The Kitakyushu International Conference Center is located in the old port area a 10 minute walk from Kokura train station.

It was opened in 1990 and was designed by Arata Isozaki.

Isozaki was born not far from Kokura in Oita, and at 78 years old is the current grand master of Japanese architecture with prestigous building all over the world.

This is not one of his better known buildings, but I found interesting enough with its combination of curves and angles.