Posted:Jun 25, 2007

TAB in James Turrell’s House of Light

A week before the opening of the third Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial 2006 (opened June 23) in Niigata prefecture, Tokyo Art Beat and Shirokuma ventured out to the House of Light, a guesthouse designed by James Turrell for the first art triennial.

His light insatallation is set inside a sturdy, elevated, Japanese house built in the traditional style. Turrell took the concept for this meditation house from Junichiro Tanizaki’s essay In Praise of Shadows.

Photo: Bunmei Shirabe

Photo: Paul Baron

The building is situated on a mountain side, removed from the town and isolated from the community. It is also nearly impossible to reserve it for a weekend. Yet, we managed to book it for an overnight stay on the last night of a long weekend. For Tokyo Art Beat the trip was a highlight of its activities, especially of the recent opening of a small office in Co-Lab in Chyoda-ku.

Since our arrival coincided with the the approaching triennial, we managed to see some or the triennial’s art works being set up, although not as many as we had hoped for, due to the incessant rain. The rain was not good for our “expedition”, considering that the light show in the House of Light is designed around an open skylight that can only be opened on a dry day or night.

Photo: Paul Baron

Due to the rain we missed the light show at sunset. After eating a local-style dinner, delivered to the house for the 16 of us, we enjoyed our baths in the ground floor’s hot spring, which has another light installation. A simple fiber optic wire runs around the pool and door frame: the only source of light, beside the little moonlight coming through a large window.

Photo: Bunmei Shirabe

Just before daybreak the rain ceased and the skylight opened automatically, waking us up. We experienced an awe-inspiring sunrise, thanks to the Turrell’s light installation and the colorful morning sky seen from the large windows.

Photo: Bunmei Shirabe

Photo: Bunmei Shirabe

Before returning to Tokyo, some of us toured another guesthouse designed for a previous triennial, the Dream House by Marina Abramovic. This house turned out to be quite different. The century-old farmhouse, with fairytale exteriors, has no running water and yet there is a “functioning” bathroom with two vintage bathtubs, so that a evening bath is one of the attractions.

Photo: Bunmei Shirabe

Just passing through the place is quite an experience; staying there overnight could be unforgettable. The works by Abramovic in the Dream House include witchcraft-like materials such as magnets and dozens of glasses of water, and four coffins in four separate rooms. On top of this, there are only four people allowed in the building for the night. Guests are supposed to get into special head-to-toe pajamas and sleep in the coffins for the night. The goal is to sleep, dream and write your dreams in a Bible-like black, leather notebook in the morning.

If that’s not enough of a weekend adrenaline-rush, the drive up and down the winding mountain roads, next to frightening, sheer slopes with breathtaking landscapes will be.

Aneta Glinkowska

Aneta Glinkowska

Born in Poland. She has lived in New York since 1996, where she attended college and graduate school. To escape the routine of science labs in college, she went to the movies daily. Following an MA in Cinema Studies, she roams Tokyo as a writer, visiting art galleries daily and blogging about art events. She's looking for opportunities to write about art and cinema for all types of publications. Contact via email: aneta [at] tokyoartbeat [dot ]com.