Seiyo Art Initiative
The mission is the placement of sculptures, art installations, and objects in the rural landscape. The purpose is to set a process in motion to enrich the cultural community and enhance the quality of life in Seiyo City and beyond. To provide a diverse and exciting physical environment, to increase awareness and understanding and encourage dialogue and learning of art, to promote Seiyo City as a cultural destination for visitors and residents, offering the audiences an experience with art that interacts with the specific environments of Shikoku's and Seiyo's scenery, offering local, national and international artists the opportunity to make and exhibit work to provide them with a showcase, and influence economic growth.
Working with the local community, city and government officials to select, get permission and funding for the creation and placements of works at various locations. Sculpture, art installations and objects have the quality of changing our view, perception and experience of a place. By placing these we are able to rediscover and appreciate our daily environment and it gives us the chance to promote the beauty of our rural landscape again.
Initiated by sculptor Kees Ouwens, who has a lot of experience with this kind of exhibits abroad and in Japan. He organized: Public Space Project "98" in Matsuyama City, Tanbo Project 2000 in Seiyo City, Uchinuki "21" in Seiyo City, Sculpture show 2002 in a bamboo -grove in Kyoto, Tanbo.X.Project in 2004 in Seiyo City (all in Japan), and participated at Sculpture Key West, Florida, Union University Sculpture Tour in Tennessee, Western Michigan University Sculpture Tour in the U.S.A. and Echigo Art Triennial in Niigata, Japan. He also built his Studio O-Huis here in Seiyo City, Shikoku, in 1996, because of the beautiful surroundings. He will grant the use of his studio for the organizing, creating and exhibiting of works, for the residency of invited artists and for communication purposes.
The project will be starting in 2010 by placing works by Kees Ouwens and by inviting artists to come up with ideas and proposals for future placements. A call for artist will be announced. We would like to invite 2 or 3 artists a year to come over to the studio and produce works which will be specially made for the selected sites with a budget for travel, living and material expenses. We also welcome artists who want to participate and are able to fund their own proposals. For these artists, we also grant the use of the Studio's facilities. The works will be placed at the various locations for a minimum period of 1 year. Possible sites for placements ar: rice fields, mountain areas, sea-, river-, and lake sides, old towns, fishing ports, temple- and shrine grounds.
The artist will be contacted to discuss the possibilities such as prolonging the placement, relocation or removal of the work. The removed works will be transported to Studio O-Huis. Artists have 1 year to collect their works. If not collected, the works will become property of Studio O-Huis, which will be free to decide what to do with these works. Also, the removal costs from the Studio are the responsibility of the artists. The works will be insured once they are installed properly during the display period. The works may be offered for sale but a 25% commission fee will apply. The exhibits will be promoted and a brochure of the exhibits with photos of the art works, artists statements, and tour map will be produced yearly.
Selection criteria: sculptures must be original, suitable for outdoor display in adverse weather conditions such as high winds, typhoons, heavy rain, heat, snow, and freezing temperatures; must be soundly and professionally constructed of safe and durable components, and require no maintenance during the display period. It must be appropriate for viewing by an unsupervised audience of residents and visitors of all ages.
The funding for all this will come from local and national governmental authorities, corporate sponsors, donations, and through sales of the works. Depending on the amount of funding, this initiative will become a worthwhile effort.
Yours sincerely,
Kees Ouwens.
Studio O-Huis is located in Seiyo City, Ehime Prefecture on the island called Shikoku in Japan. Designed and built by Kees Ouwens in 1996. Total area of 2500 square meters with parking lot, ceramics- and sculpture workplace, art gallery, sculpture-garden, kitchen, toilet, bathroom, and living space. It is a very nice, quiet studio, perfect to work in, relax, and to get inspired by rural Japanese nature and scenery. The nearest airport is Matsuyama City, with connections to Osaka, Tokyo, and other main cities in Japan. From Matsuyama there is a train service which brings you to Unomachi station in Seiyo City.
Adress studio O-Huis:
Inobe-Higashi, 1040, Seiyo-city, Ehime Prefecture, Japan 797-0034, tel. +31.81.894-66-0980, web site www.kees-ouwens.jp, e mail info@kees-ouwens.jp.
View from the side of the studio. On the left side you see a small pond through the bamboo, in the middle a stone path and window of the art gallery, and on the right mountains.
Living space with wooden floor, steel ceiling with spot lights, drawing table, fireplace, chairs and couch, dining table, books, tv, music, and a staircase to a small loft with sleeping space for two persons.
Art Gallery with a total length of 13 meters and width of 7,5 meters. With wooden flooring, a rusted steel ceiling with spot lights, white painted walls of 3 and 5 meters height, big steel entrance door and window of 2 by 3 meters. Also with a table and chairs, computer, fax, telephone, and access to kitchen and toilet.
Art Gallery with a big window and partial stone flooring extending outside into the bamboo grove and two smaller windows looking out at the small pond at the back of the studio. The outside environment is very visible through the windows and entrance and gives the gallery an extra dimension, perfect to show various works of art.
View of the kitchen, with windows looking outside, tiled walls and floor, and all equipment available for cooking and of course for making coffee.
Sculpture workplace with crane for lifting and moving heavy materials, air compressor and various tools and machines for stone carving, cutting, and polishing. Everything you might possibly need to make sculptures we can provide locally. Here in Shikoku, you can work on various stone materials such as granite, sandstone, and green schist. We also have a work place available, near the studio, for cutting and welding iron and stainless steel.
Ceramics workplace to make pottery, sculptures, and objects out of clay. We can provide you with any type of clay and glaze you might want to use. We have a small air compressor and wheels available, as well as a small gas oven. We alsohave the possibility to burn with wood at the kilns owned by local potters. Also perfect to burn big or for complicated work. Near by we have a town called Tobe, which is famous for its porcelain.
Small gas oven which can burn to about 1300 degrees Celsius.
Art work made by Yamada Shuji, placed in the middle of a rice field. He used 1500 Japanese roof tiles.
Art object made out of steel placed at the seaside here in Seiyo City. Seiyo City has various landscapes, from sea shores, fishing ports, and rivers to mountains, a lot of rice fields and small ponds to irrigate these. All nice spots to place works of art.
Typical scenery here in Seiyo: rice fields. For me, they are like big canvasses, always changing in color and appearance, depending on the seasons. In spring, the farmers turn the soil, all black and smelling; after this they plant these small fragile rice plants and all the fields are suddenly submerged in water reflecting the sun rays, clouds, and the sky - like a giant mirror. The air is filled with the sounds of frogs and insects and the rainy season starts, all very wet but perfect to watch the dragonflies. Summer comes around with very strong winds turning the grown rice plants into shapes like big waves, rolling in strange patterns. Autumn is very serene, with warm dark colors and people harvesting. And winter gives us another dimension: snow.
Object of art placed in the mountains. Hinoki (cypress wooden) poles of 360 cm length are 'planted' like rice in a straight row, and on top of these small green schist stone sculptures are placed, which symbolize seeds.
Stone sculptures placed in a bamboo grove. The stone material is Chinese basalt.
'Life in Colours:' an outdoor exhibition of the renowed textile artist Izukura Akihiko from Kyoto, showing his silk textile objects placed at various locations in nature. The objects were exposed to wind, rain, and a lot of sunshine, producing beautiful shadow patterns and natural movements. Al his object are naturally dyed with color taken from nature, such as insects and plants, resulting in striking heart-soothing colors.
