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Technically, it is a reproduction of the plastic creation of moles that a typhoon went through last year. But regardless, other people are happy.
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By Hisako Ueno and Mike Ives
TOKYO — Don’t worry: A giant pumpkin sculpture by artist Yayoi Kusama has been reinstalled on the Japanese island where a typhoon hit last year.
Technically, this specific specimen of polka dot-reinforced plastic is a reproduction of the one that irreparably damaged. But it doesn’t matter. People are satisfied and Instagram-adapted art has returned just in time for Japan’s reopening to foreign tourists after a coronavirus-induced pause.
“Pumpkin is a peculiarity of fashionable art, it has been missing for a long time and, despite everything, it is back,” Toshio Hamaguchi, 74, who lives on the island, said by telephone Saturday. “The locals are satisfied. to see him come back, we aspire to that.
The original paintings were installed in 1994 on Naoshima, an island in western Japan that has since been a safe haven for foreign art and architecture.
The yellow and black sculpture of Mrs. Kusama, one of the world’s most popular artists, is something like a cousin of her “dancing” pumpkin that was featured in a sculpture exhibit last year at the New York Botanical Garden. There is also a giant red Kusama gourd in Naoshima.
The yellow and black pumpkin, about six and a half feet tall and just over eight feet wide, in its same previous position on a dock last August when it was thrown into the sea by a typhoon that flew up to 78 miles consistent with hour. Staff Members of the Benesse art site, the constant residence of the work, could not save her in time.
The pumpkin was then recovered in a broken state and transported, perhaps to the world’s art equivalent of a compost pile.
“It disappeared and left what seemed like a big void in our life on the island,” said Shigenori Fujii, an official with the Naoshima Tourism Association.
The sculpture’s return this week made national news. The new pumpkin is a little tougher and has a special bra on its stem, a feature that would allow it to be gently dragged to protect it from any other typhoons that threaten it.
When the original pumpkin settled in Naoshima about 3 decades ago, locals were skeptical about its shape and bright colors, said Mr. Hamaguchi, the local resident.
At that time, the island’s economy was necessarily industrial. The position did not yet have the reputation of housing artworks by Claude Monet and James Turrell, or structures by Pritzker Prize winner Tadao Ando.
“My delinquent wife asked, ‘What is this?'” said Yoshio Nishiguchi, 72, an innkeeper in Naoshima and a former seaweed farmer. “At first, we were all surprised to see the pumpkin. “
The sculpture is now considered a “treasure,” Mr. Hamaguchi, to the point that, after it broke last year, some citizens complained that meteorologists issued high tide and wind warnings for the region as the fateful typhoon approached.
“This time I think we want to be more vigilant,” he added. “Even at night. “
Hisako Ueno reported from Tokyo and Mike Ives from Seoul.
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