JAPAN ALPS ART FESTIVAL 2017 started! Introduction of installation work of Allora & Calzadilla

2017/09/06

OKU-NOTO TRIENNALE 2017 has finally started on 3. September. We are pleased to introduce bran-new installation art of Allora & Calzadilla.

Living in Puerto Rico, Allora & Calzadilla, work as a couple unit on the country with complex history vis-à-vis the United States in name of Suzerain state. That is, they have to obey the U.S. Forces and to die for United States once a war outbreaks, while they are independent in Sports field. It is imagined that there is a gap between their people earning for a true independence and those Americans.
The artwork itself is composed of an ordinary Japanese ship and its gleaming gold eagle on the bow. If not uttered loudly, this eagle might be a symbol of America.
Figureheads have been generally accepted as the guardian for the ship in the West, while dragons appear in ancient Eastern ships as well. The artist may have created the eagle figure as guardian against many difficulty from the outer world. However, the eagle seems too big or unbalanced, or even seems to be racking the ship itself against the stormy sea and wind from the Continent.
We Japanese see the Russia, the Korea and the China across the sea, and feel the conflict among the islands around Japan. We suspect the guardian as the eagle which should protect the ship from foreign enemy. The artists, as we do, may have thought of their homeland.

Art Passport and guidebook for Japan OKU-NOTO TRIENNALE 2017 is available at Art Front Gallery.

OKU-NOTO TRIENNALE 2017
September 3rd - October 22nd 2017, 50days
JAPAN ALPS ART FESTIVAL 2017 official website (JP only)
OKU-NOTO TRIENNALE 2017 official website