MOA Museum of Art
Shizuoka
2017
2017
Sublime Light. Sublime Place
I wanted to see the numerous treasures of Japanese culture housed in the MOA Museum of Art in the best lighting and setting possible. I thought of the light that Ashikaga Yoshimasa saw at the Togudo Hall of Jishoji Temple, and the light Kobori Enshu saw in the Katsura Imperial Villa(early seventheenth century).It was precisely this kind of premodern lighting that I wanted to create inside the museum, and that was why I was very particular about working with traditional materials such as yakusugi cedar, black plaster, and tatami. I tasked myself with the mission of giving a premodern look and atmosphere to a museum, a modern installation. Through trial and error in my efforts to solve this difficult problem, I succeeded in hiding cutting-edge lighting technology behind the scenes.
Inside myself, the oldest things turn into the newest things.
I have spent a great deal of time thinking about the origins of civilization. Since the dawn of civilization, humankind has used its hands to craft the most marvelous treasures. But can we still create masterpieces like the old days? Sometimes, I doubt it. Will the art of now be awarded National Treasure status one thousand years hence? When it comes to art, no one really knows if it advances or decays with time.
Still, I saw a glimmer of hope. Lacquering was a technique that embodied the aesthetic of the Muromachi period. This medieval tradition lives on in the hands of Living National Treasure Kazumi Murose and I asked him to make a front door for the museum. His door, while resembling the paintings of Mark Rothko and the negoro trays of the Todaiji Temple(759), is different from both. It glows with a sheen and color well suited to a portal that will take people away from the present and back into premodern times. The door compels visitors to concentrate and to focus.
Hiroshi Sugimoto
I wanted to see the numerous treasures of Japanese culture housed in the MOA Museum of Art in the best lighting and setting possible. I thought of the light that Ashikaga Yoshimasa saw at the Togudo Hall of Jishoji Temple, and the light Kobori Enshu saw in the Katsura Imperial Villa(early seventheenth century).It was precisely this kind of premodern lighting that I wanted to create inside the museum, and that was why I was very particular about working with traditional materials such as yakusugi cedar, black plaster, and tatami. I tasked myself with the mission of giving a premodern look and atmosphere to a museum, a modern installation. Through trial and error in my efforts to solve this difficult problem, I succeeded in hiding cutting-edge lighting technology behind the scenes.
Inside myself, the oldest things turn into the newest things.
I have spent a great deal of time thinking about the origins of civilization. Since the dawn of civilization, humankind has used its hands to craft the most marvelous treasures. But can we still create masterpieces like the old days? Sometimes, I doubt it. Will the art of now be awarded National Treasure status one thousand years hence? When it comes to art, no one really knows if it advances or decays with time.
Still, I saw a glimmer of hope. Lacquering was a technique that embodied the aesthetic of the Muromachi period. This medieval tradition lives on in the hands of Living National Treasure Kazumi Murose and I asked him to make a front door for the museum. His door, while resembling the paintings of Mark Rothko and the negoro trays of the Todaiji Temple(759), is different from both. It glows with a sheen and color well suited to a portal that will take people away from the present and back into premodern times. The door compels visitors to concentrate and to focus.
Hiroshi Sugimoto
