“Harsh Citation, Harsh Pastoral, Harsh Münster”, Ei Arakawa

The LWL art museum is the center of the Skulptur Projekte Münster. Schneider’s work is located here. There are also John Knight’s work “John Knight, A Work in situ”, which uses horizontal instrument as motif displayed outside of the museum, and Michael Dean’s “Tender Tender” displayed inside along with a permanent exhibition. Bicycle rentals and official merchandise sales areas are also gathered in this neighborhood, and Koki Tanaka’s work, “Provisional Studies: Workshop # 7 How to Live Together and Sharing the Unknown” is also located near here. On the other hand, the group of works located in the outskirts has an impression that each work is located apart. For example, “Harsh Citation, Harsh Pastoral, Harsh Münster” by Ei Arakawa is one of the most distant works located at the end of the lakeside. This is a sculpture work with LED that he has been working on. Because it is in a place where you can not access without a bicycle, it creates an experience that a group of electronics suddenly appearing in the thick grass. His work seems to be odd compared to other artists’ work, like something disproportionate to the land of pastoral atmosphere lined up.

“On Water”, Ayşe Erkmen

In addition to these artworks, “On Water” by Ayşe Erkmen gives a very nature like impression that represents Münster. This work enables audiences to walk across a river on something like a steal framed table. The weather in Münster was poor this year that temperatures did not rise much and chilly days continued even in summer. However, although there was not line, it was no doubt that many people were flowing in this work and making the exhibition crowded. The cafes around the artwork were also overflowing with people, so it seems that this work was one of the highlight this year.

Skulptur Projekte Münster can be seen as a sample of recent local art festivals in Japan. There were some similarities often found between artworks in Japan and Münster. Personally, I felt the feeling strongly towards Mika Rottenberg’s “Cosmic Generator.” This work was an installation that showed video in a room of an Asian food shop that had already been closed. The stage of the video is also Asia. This is a similar idea seen at Japanese art festivals which treats a vibe of a place in the past in the same context as if it is now. Because it was a place where products were actually placed, it provided more realistic impression as a space with smells and dirt that were still remained. Rottenberg tried to find Asian women to be watchmen. Moreover, there was a work,Wagner / De Bruca’s “Bye Bye Deutschland! Eine Lebensmelodie [Bye Bye Germany! A Life Melody,]” which also showed a video of a comical musical vibe set in the old dance bar in Münster. Because of the very high affinity of the artwork, both the situation of the video and the exhibition space constantly provided interesting view points to audiences. The bar actually served drinks, so some people were enjoying the exhibit with beer.