Today contained many stunning works of art on Naoshima - and, alas, only that which was outside is photographable. Even walking up the hill in the drizzle to breakfast (in the basement of the Benesse Museum, and facing another wall of Sugimoto photos, with Warhol's flowers to my left) there were surprises, like this bowl.
And en route to the Chichu Museum - itself a stunning piece of art, or architecture - there's a Monet inspired garden. There are three huge Monet water lily paintings inside, but for me the star of the show was a huge Walter de Maria piece, "Time/Timeless/No Time." Twenty seven groups of three golden posts, with a giant shiny black ball in the middle of the floor - as awe-inspiring, in its way, as the Lightning Field. There was a good Turrell light room, too.
Then walking back down the hill, the Lee Ufan museum - both outside pieces, like this huge boulder, and paintings inside.
The Honmura area contains six official sites, mostly in restored traditional houses, although one is a Sugimoto re-made shrine - just downhill from the town's traditional shrine complex, though this Go'o shrine is indeed venerable. It's in two parts: one above, and one below ground - and the latter consists of a glass staircase descending into water in a dark cave: mystical; extraordinary.
But in lieu of being able to take photos of this, or another Turrell installation, or other pieces - here are some town views:
here's a fox, guarding a shrine.
Yayoi Kusama spots get everywhere.
The traditional walls, made black through charring cedar planks, are stunning.
And here's Yayoi's other pumpkin, by the ferry quay. But by this time it was pouring with rain - no heading out there, even for this small boy -
although he was super-excited to find that the ferry had spots on it!
Sailing, alas, away, one could see, once again, how much of Sugimoto's aesthetic comes from here. I'm sure I'll be back.
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