夏休みの終わりに

(English follows after Japanese)

　短い夏休みの最終日、原美術館で「ウィリアム・エグルストン：パリ‐京都」展を観ました。私が初めてエグルストンの写真を観た時の印象は、「なぜだか目が離せない。けどちょっと怖い。」です。大学院進学のためイギリスに行ってすぐ、ロンドンのヘイワードギャラリーで観た展覧会でした。アメリカ南部の郊外を切り取った作品は、色合いのせいなのか、人の視線のせいなのか、何か不穏な事が起こる前触れのような、不安な気持ちにさせられるものでした。それでもじっと見ていたい夢の風景のような写真ばかりだった事を覚えています。

　今回、原美術館で展示されていた作品はパリと京都で取られたものが中心でした。非連続的な写真をゆっくり眺めて思い至ったのは、彼の実直な視点です。どこで撮っても、どう切り取ってもそれはどこまでもエグルストンの風景です。どうやって彼が写真を撮っているのかとても気になっていたところ、ミュージアムショップで、「William Eggleston Photographer」というDVDを見つけて、買って帰りました。生まれ育ったテネシー州を拠点に70代の今も、ハンディなカメラでさっと撮る様子がとてもダンディでした。

　面白いことに、最後に彼は夢の話をしました。「しばしば写真的な夢を見る、しかもそれはカラーなんだ。」と語っていました。私が彼の作品に感じた思いは、彼の夢の風景に入り込んでしまったような不安だったのかもしれません。しかし不思議な事に、それはどこまでも私を幻惑するのです。

On the last day of summer holiday

On the last day of the short summer holiday, I went to see the exhibition called "William Eggleston: Paris - Kyoto" in Hara Museum of Contemporary Art. It was right after I've arrived in UK to start my MA when I saw Eggleston's exhibition very first. It was in Hayward Gallery in London. Many of the works are taken in the south of the States. I didn't understand why, though, I felt uneasy as something wrong would happen from his works. It might be because of colours or the eyes of the people in the photos.... However, I did not able to stop keeping my eyes on them.

In this exhibition at Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, the works are mainly from Paris and Kyoto. I have kept my steps in the rooms looking at the works. They looked non lineir, though, I felt his steady glance that captured the scenes. Whenever, or wherever he takes his photos, the scenes become "his scenes". I was so interested in how he actually takes photos, then I found the DVD called "William Eggleston Photographer" at the museum shop, so I bought it. He is in his seventies, and is still based in Tennessee where he has grown up. He looked so dandy that holding a handy camera and when he found something, he takes it very quickly, Interestingly, in the last, he talked about his dream, saying "Often, very often, have these called photographic dream...Always in colour. The uneasiness that I felt at Hayward Gallery might be the arkwardness that I jumped into his dream. But mysteriously, I am mesmerised and it seems to continue forever.

夢を語る訓練

　(English follows after Japanese)

　久しぶりにワタリウム美術館に行き、「藤本壮介展　山のような建築 雲のような建築 森のような建築 建築と東京の未来を考える2010」という展覧会を見ました。ラジオを聞いていたら、この企画展のオープニングについて紹介されていたので、興味を持った次第です。

　都市、特に東京の未来の在り方についてこんなに楽観的に語っていいんだ！というのが観た後の率直な感想でした。ところ狭しと並べられたドローイングや模型からは、藤本氏の目を借りて建物や街の在り方を見るような思いになりました。石や葉を重ねたものやおにぎりにまで空間的な面白さを感じている様子は、蟻の巣を覗きながら、この中に入ってみたらどんな感じなんだろう…と自分を蟻の大きさにして想像した小さい頃の事を思い出させます。だからと言って奇想天外な夢を語っているわけではなく、もしかしたら予想外におもしろい家や、街が今後できていくのかも、と思わせる頼もしさにも満ちています。

　夢を語るにも、ただぼんやりしているだけでは駄目で、現実を語るのとはまた別の能力を鍛え、訓練することが必要なことが彼の視点からは分かります。シビアな現実世界を生き延びていくには、そのどちらの能力も鍛えなければ真に豊かにはなれないことを、彼は建築を通じて語っているように思いました。

「藤本壮介展」

Training to talking about dream

I have been to Watari-um, the contemporary art museum to see the exhibition called "Sou Fujimoto Architects - Future Visions Forest, Cloud, Mountain", about the architecture of Mr. Sou Fujimoto. I had heard about this exhibition's opening reception on the radio and been interested in it.

The first impression was that his works told us we were allowed to talk about the future of the city, especially the future of Tokyo such freely and optimistically. There were so many drawings and models in the small exhibit spaces. I felt like I "borrowed" his eyes to look at the planning of buildings and the cities in his mind. He makes the concept models by leaves and onigiri, the rice balls, which I have never seen the architectual meanings in them. While walking around to see those models, it reminded me of my young child's days when looking into an ants' nest to imagine how it felt like being an ant to follow them inside the nest. Mr. Fujimoto, however, doesn't just speak about the dreams that are impossible fantasy, he shows us somehow reliable future through images with dreams, that we could be more flexible toward houses or cities.

However, even we just wait and sit to dream that some great things could happen, nothing could be possible. We would need to train the ability to dream, which might be different ability from talking about the reality. I thought Mr. Fujimoto's viewpoints show us this process through this architecture. If we could survive this difficult contemporary world, I understand that we should need to train both dreaming and to facing the real world. Otherwise we could not live rich life in both materially and psychologically. I thought he wanted to tell us about it through this works.

「建築はどこにあるの？」

(English follows after Japanese)

　

　東京国立近代美術館の「建築はどこにあるの？7つのインスタレーション」展という企画展を見に行きました。私の中では、建築はファッションと並んで手ごわい展覧会です。図面の見方はよくわからないし、模型は現実のサイズ感をつかむのが難しい。何よりも人がいる、街の中にあるといった建築本来の文脈と引き離された場で、それらをどう見たらいいのかいつも困惑します。

　今回の展覧会では、現役の建築家が近美のために新しい空間を作る、というコンセプトとのこと。実際には「なんのことやら…。」と思うものもありましたが、やはりそこに人がいるからこそ、空間は意味を持つということを強く感じました。この展覧会が、写真撮影が可能だったこともそう思った理由の一つかもしれません。作品の全てが実寸の「建物」感がある訳ではなかったものの、人が作品を見たり、細部を覗いたり、写真を撮ったりと、いろんな動きをする人が、私が覗いた携帯カメラの画面に入り込んでいる様子が面白いと思ったのです。私がカメラを構えていると慌てて画面から去ろうとしてくださる人もいましたが、心の中で「そのまま、動かないで！」とつぶやいていました。「人のいる空間」という視点で見ると、何となく建築家の目指したい事が見えてくるような気がしました。

　展示室内をぐるっと見終わり、いつも彫刻が一つ置いてある芝生の前庭に出ると、そこには私の大好きな建築家、アトリエ・ワンの作品がありました。竹を使って人が集える場所を作ったとのこと。遠くから見ると、巨大な動物の輪郭に見えます。私の撮った写真には、3人の大学生らしき男の子たちが写っています。さっき仲良さげに展示室内を見て回っていた3人です。竹の間から真夏の日差しが降り注ぐ中、人が行き交うこの場所は、初めに入ってきた時に異空間に遭遇する驚きをもたらし、展示を見終わった後には私達を外部空間に導く緩衝地帯となっているところがとても好ましく思いました。

「建築はどこにあるの？ 7つのインスタレーション」展

Where is architecture?

I have been to the exhibition called "Where is architecture? Seven Installations by Japanese Architects" at The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo. For me, an exhibition of architecture is tough to tackle with as same as one of fashion. I don't have any knowledge to read the drawing as it seems too technical for me, it is difficult to imagine the real size from the small models, and most of all, I always confuse how I should see the exhibits of architecture being dragged from the context where they are built. In this exhibition, the concept is that the seven noticeable Japanese architects to create new spaces for the museum. To be honest, some of them were "what on earth is that !?" for me, though, I recognised that the spaces are given meanings when there are live people. One of the reasons why I thought so was this. You were allowed to take photos in this exhibition (it is not very common in exhibition in Japan.). I felt it interesting to see the people walking and wondering in the building spaces through the lens of my mobile's camera. I was trying to capture those people in the photo, but when they found I was taking photos, they were politely moving out of the flame for me! So I said "No! don't move, stay there please!" in my mind! I wanted to see those spaces with people, because it makes me understand something that the architects were aiming at.

I looked through the exhibition rooms and went out to the front garden where there always was only a sculpture. There, there were huge works by Atelier Bow-wow that one of my most favourite architects unit. They made works of bending bamboo branches which looked like bones of a tent or a shelter. They said they tried to make where people could gather together. From the distance, they also looked like gigantic animal shapes. In the photo I took, there are three boys sitting together, who were looking around the exhibition rooms chatting. (I guesses they were architecture students.) This is the space where summer sun beam were coming through the bamboo and some people go by and some stay for a while. At first, it gave me a big surprise because there are only grass and a sculpture usually I visit. But, these pieces of work would have been a good effect of entering point when you go into the exhibition space like preparing your mind. And after you enjoy the exhibits, they, again, welcome to relax and let us go back to our everyday life.