On June 1st I headed to the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography. You aren't allowed to take pictures in that museum, but I really enjoyed the works on display. I had to pay a bit extra to see the current exhibition. It was worth it. I think that it is very important while I am in Japan for me to be exposed to Japanese artists. So many of these Japanese museums are focused on Western artwork. Especially the museums that cater to the western audience. I saw the work of Seiichi Furuya in the special exhibition at the museum, which was something I had never been exposed to. His photographic works were very stunning. They mainly surrounded his wife and his memories regarding her life before she passed away. You can see some of the pieces from the exhibition here. I don't want to steal them.
On the main exhibit floor was "The Samurai & I". This exhibit started with early photographic works in Japan and discussed the history of photography in Japan, mainly portraiture. It was really interesting to see some of the very early photography of real samurai. I was really moved by the concept of what occurs to an individual when they understand that their place in society may be at risk, that their lives may be at risk so they reach out to a foreign technology to preserve themselves. The photographs were pieces of these people's lives, although now we only sometimes know who they actually were.
That museum happens to be in the Ebisu beer plaza area. So I headed to the Yebisu Beer Museum.
The history of the beer is pretty remarkable. It started when foreigners essentially started making beer in Japan. These guys in particular imported absolutely everything from Germany so they could call their beer a German style beer. It was a super luxury for everyone to buy beer. But then in World War II all the beer makers were taken over and they could only make all the same crappy beer. In the 50s Yebisu came back and slowly helped Japan drink beer that wasn't a luxury item. That was the only thing I found interesting about this museum. Obviously I did not get a drink there.
I keep hopping between museums. It gets a little mundane to write about 'cause there really isn't anything remarkable about them... when I get home. When I'm there I'm really into it, but you know, you leave and you have some time to think about it and it's not as cool. I got lost and spent about three hours trying to find the Parasite Museum. This poor doctor was treating all these really poor people in post-war Japan. He became really good and finding and identifying different kind of parasites. His office discovered four new to the world parasites just in their patients. They are most know for the 8 meter long intestinal worm they also uncovered. Horrifying. The website says that this is a fantastic place to not be afraid of parasites but to learn about them, but I can't say I've ever been so terrified at a museum in my life. You can learn more about it at the website here I didn't bother to look at the website before I left, just tried to use my guidebook. Needless to say, looking at the building before you go definitely helps you find it.
One thing in particular I was really excited to see was the Aleksandr Rochenko and Varvara Stepanova exhibit at the Teien Art Museum which happened to be down the street from the Parasite Museum and easily identifiable.
It sounded like a really cool thing. The museum was this Prince's house who had some complicated lineage and lived there with his wife. They had this art deco architect design the place, and it really shows. More information can be found on their website here.
The exhibition of this work was a partnership with Russia to bring these works to Japan for the first time. I was expecting (not knowing much about their work) many posters and graphic design work. The show encompassed all of the duo as artists and more. It was fascinating in that way. I didn't know they did lots of abstract painting, abstract photography and designs for plays, but they did. It wasn't as interesting to me from what I was anticipating seeing. The Japanese in there really ate it up though. There was a line of older people coming out of the gift shop into the hall. They all really wanted the book from the exhibit, which I wouldn't have dreamed of purchasing. I am really interested in the way the Japanese have taken Western culture and purchased it as a commodity. The reappropriate it as they see fit. They take it home and put it on their coffee tables. I guess we do the same thing with European culture for lack of our own American culture. I think this might be my theme for the year, but we'll see how things work out.
The gardens were beautiful. I hung out there for awhile 'cause it seemed to be the thing to do. There was a Japanese garden with it's obligatory pond and koi.
There was another section that was the Western section.
I hung out in these gardens for awhile before I headed back to the ranch. A suitable day, I'd say.
