Wednesday, December 16.

Left the hotel not too late, not too early for a visit to the Hiroshima Memorial Museum. Impressive. No comment needed. What could I say? Two options. The temptation of cynicism or the temptation of silence. I would take number 2. One building has been preserved the way it was after the bomb, a few shrines around it. That's it. Nothing more. But it tells the story.

My next move was to reach paradise. Did I already tease you about paradise? Yes, remember. Now, you have the story. The story of Paradise on earth. My story of Naoshima.
Naoshima. Everybody told me to go there. A private museum own by the Benesse Corporation. To go there you have to make a reservation for both your room (the "hotel" being in the museum) and your food--if you plan to stay overnight.
I did.
It is not far from Hiroshima. Less than one hour by train. I met with Yuji Akimoto, the Art Program Director for the museum, at Okayama station. We had coffee and conversation. Then we drove to the boat, a ferry, for about one hour. I have to say, with shame, that I started to be nervous. Being removed from everywhere, in the countryside. Waiting for the boat with some truck drivers .
Took the boat, then a shuttle to access the museum in the middle of the Island. I was nervous about how to get back early in the morning. I stopped being nervous when we arrived at the building, designed by Tadao Ando. A shock right in my face. Both because of the building and because of the location.
Arriving there we passed by a beautiful Kusama, right on the sea. Then a Dan Graham, in the middle of the camping. A little bit like the one on the roof of the DIA in New York (I mean the Dan Graham, not the camping). By the way the "camping" is designed by artist Kenjiro Okazaki, who created a campsite with Mongolian-style tents ("Pao").
Arriving at the museum, they took me to my room, facing the sea. Nom de dieu, as some one not well educated would have said in French.
I know you hate me.
Left my room and went with Yuji Akimoto on a tour of the village.



It is a traditional village. Used to be a fishering village. Now most of the people work in the industry located in the area. The museum is restoring old traditional houses that they dedicate to one artist who then does an installation inside. It is a beautiful idea. First, because it's unusual, and, then, because it involves a population who is not familiar with contemporary art. The population is involved in two ways. First, they are the ones hired to restore the houses, and, second, because artists are building relationships with the people in order to contextualize the works. It is smart, discreet, and, I guess, efficient.
The one I visited, and the first achieved so far in this "cultural village," is done by Tatsuo Miyajima. He is the artist who is using the blinking numbers. Counters which express human life and time. In his house in Naoshima he replaced the tatami space by a pond where the counters are immersed. Each counter being connected to people in Naoshima who decided the rhythm of blinking according to their own experience.
It is a very nice project.
After that Yuji Akimoto took me to have a look at temples and shrines in the village.




The tour was highlighted by a conversation about Japanese culture and art in relation to other Asian cultures and American, or Western, ones. It was quiet and peaceful, and I enjoyed it.

Back to the museum for a tour of the collection.
Yukinori Yanagi
Wesselmann
George Segal
Franck Stella
Louise Nevelson
Bruce Nauman
Jasper Johns
Donald Judd
David Hockney
Giacometti
Borofsky
Jennifer Bartlett
Rauschenberg
Twombly
Pollock
Calder
Sugimoto
Kounellis
Basquiat
Becher
Cai Guo-Qiang

Then we had a tour of the building itself, through a little elevator which took us to the top of the building. Saw the rooms and this beautiful oval pond through an oval-shaped opening in the ceiling. Designed by Ando. Somebody said Paradise?

My host had to leave. He left me there alone and told me that my dinner would be served at 7 pm in the restaurant, and I was free to go wherever I wanted in the building. I was Howard Hughes for a night. Dinner was unbelievable. First, I was alone in the Tadao Ando restaurant, with the cooks and a waiter. Food came to my table during little more than one hour. Tears in the eyes. I was afraid to make too much noise. I was alone. They were serving me. My god, it was so strange. I was facing the sea. I had hundreds of different flavors in my mouth. Had I not been a curator, I would have cried. Later on, a couple dared to enter the place. How rude. But I went with it. They were sitting at the opposite side of the room. They were whispering. I want to go back.

Walked through the place at night. Had a cognac in my room. I know you hate me. Of course, I couldn't resist photographing my room, my bathroom.



Yes, this is Becher photo as decor.

Let's be totally fascinating. Let me tell you about the toilet, which looks like a Star Wars spaceship with different kind of fountains (warm, cold, mild), different kinds of pressure, and an air dryer. I can't figure out why, but very impressive and sophisticated.