Yukinori Yanagi
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is a contemporary
Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
artist. Yukinori Yanagi is a contemporary Japanese artist who has addressed themes of national and transnational
sovereignty Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...
,
globalization Globalization, or globalisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. The term ''globalization'' first appeared in the early 20t ...
and
border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...
s, as well as Japan’s imperial history and
nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...
. He is considered one of the first postwar Japanese artists that is openly critical of Japanese society and governmental policy. Many of Yanagi’s artworks consists of large-scale, site-specific installations that engage with movement and symbols of
nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...
. Yanagi has exhibited his artworks widely in Japan and the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, and became among the first foreign artists living in
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
to be invited to exhibit at the
Whitney Biennial The Whitney Biennial is a biennial exhibition of contemporary American art, typically by young and lesser known artists, on display at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, United States. The event began as an annual exhibition in ...
, alongside
Cai Guo-Qiang Cai Guo-Qiang (; born 8 December 1957) is a Chinese artist who currently lives and works in New York City and New Jersey. Biography Cai Guo-Qiang was born in 1957 in Quanzhou, Fujian Province, China. His father, Cai Ruiqin, was a calligrapher ...
, in 2000. His artworks are in museum collections such as the
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...
(USA),
Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery located in London. It houses the United Kingdom's national collection of international modern and contemporary art, and forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is ...
(UK), Virginia Museum of Fine Art (USA) and the Fabric Workshop and Museum (USA). His vision for the revitalization of the island of Inujima was actualized as the Inujima Seirensho Art Museum in 2008, a permanent, six-part art installation that has become an integral location of the Setouchi International Art Triennale.


Early life and education in Japan


Early life

Yanagi was born and raised in a rural region of Fukuoka, Japan. Growing up in the prefecture closest to the
Korean Peninsula Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
allowed Yanagi to grow up with a distinct awareness of the existence of other nations and cultures. He has spoken of his childhood experiences of picking up ‘everyday objects’ marked with Korean hangul that had washed up on the shore from the
Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it h ...
as the beginning of his long-term interest in transpacific and transnational boundaries and movement. Like many Japanese people of his generation, Yanagi's family was part of the Empire of Japan's
Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...
war effort. An awareness of this familial history has informed the artist's body of work: his father was a fighter pilot, and his paternal grandfather worked in border control in Japan’s former colony
Manchukuo Manchukuo, officially the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of (Great) Manchuria after 1934, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Northeast China, Manchuria from 1932 until 1945. It was founded as a republic in 1932 afte ...
and was detained for more than a decade in
Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
and
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
following Japan’s surrender. In his artwork, Yanagi considers continuity and diversity with regards to his own position and the place of the Japanese nation within this tumultuous history. Growing up in the 1960s before the development of widespread
video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
s, Yanagi's childhood activities involved playing with
insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...
s in the countryside, especially
ant Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of 22 ...
s and bagworm moths, and creating things out of various materials such as concrete and wax from a hardware store owned by one of his relatives. Furthermore, Yanagi’s uncle was
avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...
artist Miyazaki Junnosuke, a member of Kyushu-ha, which meant Yanagi was accustomed to seeing artistic objects and sculptures from an early age.


Education and early career in Tokyo

Yanagi earned both a BA and MFA in painting from
Musashino Art University or is a private university in Kodaira, Western Tokyo, founded in 1962 with roots going back to 1929. It is known as one of the leading art universities in Japan. History In October 1929, was founded. In December 1948, it became , and in ...
in
Western Tokyo Western Tokyo, also known as the , or , in the Tokyo Metropolis consists of 30 ordinary municipalities (Cities of Japan, cities (市 shi), Towns of Japan, towns (町 machi) and one Villages of Japan, village (村 mura)), unlike the eastern part ...
(1985). He was interested in the work of artists from the Mono-ha generation, especially of Noriyuki Haraguchi’s industrial sculptures, and became increasingly restless within the conventions of the University’s painting department. Despite being told that graduation work must be limited to flat works and oil paint only, Yanagi created a sculpture out of wooden supports and was subsequently excluded from the graduate thesis exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Tokyo. For his first solo exhibition the following year he burned all the artworks he made in art school and exhibited the ashes in large wooden boxes as the installation ''Ground Transport Project'' (1985). It was in this installation that Yanagi first included the element of live ants, a characteristic that he became known for throughout the 1990s. From 1986, Yanagi began to exhibit artwork that addressed issues of “movement” from the perspective of an outsider of the art world’s system. This included his installation ''Ground Transposition'' (1987) that included large, spherical sculptures that were scaled to the human form in relation to the proportions to the size of
dung beetle Dung beetles are beetles that feed on feces. Some species of dung beetles can bury dung 250 times their own mass in one night. Many dung beetles, known as ''rollers'', roll dung into round balls, which are used as a food source or breeding cha ...
s and the ball of dung that they roll as part of their ecology. The proportional scaling was a reference to the ancient Egyptian symbolism of the dung beetle as a ‘steward of the sun’ tasked with physically pushing the weight of the sun across the sky each day, which for Yanagi was a direct reference to the rising sun of the Japanese flag and the weight of
Japanese nationalism is a form of nationalism that asserts the belief that the Japanese are a monolithic nation with a single immutable culture, and promotes the cultural unity of the Japanese. Over the last two centuries, it has encompassed a broad range of ideas a ...
that the artist felt. In the late 1980s Yanagi exhibited his work at various galleries in
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
,
Kanagawa is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-dens ...
, and
Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancie ...
, including a prominent solo exhibition held at the Hillside Gallery in Daikanyama, in which he executed a smoky performance piece entitled ''I Feel Yellow'' (1987). He was awarded the Excellence Award in Art Document from the
Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts opened in Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan, in 1972. The collection includes works by Shōji Hamada, Hamada Shōji, Takahashi Yuichi, John Constable, Constable, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Corot, Thomas Gainsborough, Gainsborough, Monet, an ...
in 1987.


Move to the United States

Despite the promising trajectory of his art career in Tokyo following his graduation, Yanagi was increasingly disillusioned with the Japanese art world, describing his feeling of “being trapped in a giant Japanese flag, in a cage, engulfed by national identity.” The artist moved to
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
in 1988 to earn an MFA from the Sculpture Department of the Graduate School of
Yale School of Art The Yale School of Art is the art school of Yale University. Founded in 1869 as the first professional fine arts school in the United States, it grants Masters of Fine Arts degrees to students completing a two-year course in graphic design, painti ...
(1990), where he studied under
Vito Acconci Vito Acconci (, ; January 24, 1940 – April 27, 2017) was an influential American performance, video and installation artist, whose diverse practice eventually included sculpture, architectural design, and landscape design. His foundational p ...
and
Frank Gehry Frank Owen Gehry, , FAIA (; ; born ) is a Canadian-born American architect and designer. A number of his buildings, including his private residence in Santa Monica, California, have become world-renowned attractions. His works are considered ...
, among others. At Yale, Yanagi started to expand on his engagement with Japanese nationalism and history after having the opportunity to read the works of prominent prewar Japanese intellectuals such as Nishida Kitarō and
Kuki Shūzō Kuki can refer to: Locations * Kuki, Isfahan, a village in Isfahan Province, Iran * Kuki, Saitama, a city in Japan Peoples and culture * Kuki, or Thadou people, an ethnic tribe native to northeastern India (also Burma, where they are called ''Ch ...
, as well as texts and documents from or about the Pacific War that were difficult to access in Japan but available in the US. These studies allowed the young artist to gain a fuller picture of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, and question the omissions and
identitarian The Identitarian movement or Identitarianism is a pan-European nationalist, far-right political ideology asserting the right of European ethnic groups and white peoples to Western culture and territories claimed to belong exclusively to them. ...
narratives of both the Japanese and American perspectives of their national wartime history. He began to engage seriously with the idea of "''wandering as a permanent position''," creating artworks to dissolve the fixity of symbols associated with nations and regions, attempting to account for the changes that occur through time and circumstance.


Ants and national boundaries – late 1980s–1990s


Artworks from Yale University, 1988–1989

In the first year of his MFA at
Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
, Yanagi began thinking about the figure of the wandering ant as a multifaceted allegory for transnational movement. He began to regularly incorporate the insects into his artworks, a live element that became emblematic of Yanagi’s body of work from the 1990s. He thought of the
ant colony An ant colony is a population of a single ant species capable to maintain its complete lifecycle. Ant colonies are eusocial, communal, and efficiently organized and are very much like those found in other social Hymenoptera, though the vario ...
as a perfectly organized
communal society An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, religious, ...
—exemplary on the one hand of a blind obedience, but also reflective of an unstoppable
ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...
of working parts that could surpass and dismantle any concept of national boundaries or
border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...
s. Yanagi came up with the ''Ant Following Plan'' (1988) at the end of his first semester, in which he tracked the wandering movements of a single ant on the dark floor of his mostly empty 5-by-9-meter studio space using thick red chalk. Shortly after, he debuted ''American Flag Ant Farm'' (1989), which he crafted from an Uncle Milton toy ant farm by adding an extra panel with sand colored to appear as the
American flag The national flag of the United States of America, often referred to as the ''American flag'' or the ''U.S. flag'', consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the c ...
. The ‘wandering’ ants created tunnels that disintegrated the stars and stripes of the flag, overlaying macro and micro elements (nation vs ant) to dismantle and critique the permanence of the symbol of American national unity. These earlier works would prove to be very impactful, informing much Yanagi’s works for the next ten years. He continued working on and expanding his ‘Ant Farm Series’ from 1990-2002. He also resurfaced the ‘ant following’ technique in 1994 for his ongoing series ''‘Wandering Position’'' (1994–Present)’ in which he performs site-specific live tracings of a wandering ant (
San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...
in 1994; Alcatraz, California, 1996; Anomaly Gallery,
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
, 2021). He also uses this technique to create more conventional works for traditional gallery spaces on large format papers and copper plates. Following his graduation from Yale, Yanagi moved to
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
where he started to work internationally.


''World Flag Ant Farm'' (1990)

In 1991, Yanagi exhibited ''World Flag Ant Farm'' (1990) at
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
’s LACE (
Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions Located in Hollywood, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE) is a nonprofit exhibition space and archive of the visual arts for the city of Los Angeles, California, United States, currently under the leadership of Sarah Russin. History In th ...
) in one of the prominent solo exhibitions that launched his international career. ''World Flag Ant Farm'' was a large-scale installation consisting of 180 national ‘flags’ representing the members of the United Nations at the time. Each ‘flag’ was made out of a plastic box filled with colored sand in the pattern of the flag. They are interconnected by plastic tubes as they hung on the wall. As the title suggests, the entire artwork functioned as a multitude of interconnected ant colonies which could be viewed through the plastic by audiences. As the tiny insects tunneled through each flag and carried colored grains of sand to other areas, the colors and signs of national unity intermixed and began to dissolve the individual flags, creating a blurred image of a single, more ambiguous flag. ''World Flag Ant Farm'' was well received and Yanagi's approach was considered ‘iconic’ especially in the context of the end of the
Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
and rising
globalization Globalization, or globalisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. The term ''globalization'' first appeared in the early 20t ...
and
postcolonial studies Postcolonialism is the critical academic study of the cultural, political and economic legacy of colonialism and imperialism, focusing on the impact of human control and exploitation of colonized people and their lands. More specifically, it is ...
, even being featured on the cover of the international art magazine
Art in America ''Art in America'' is an illustrated monthly, international magazine concentrating on the contemporary art world in the United States, including profiles of artists and genres, updates about art movements, show reviews and event schedules. It i ...
, despite also facing harsh criticism from animal rights activists. The constant ‘wandering’ of the ants through each national symbol was exemplary of Yanagi’s ongoing engagement with the often muddled processes of globalization, the crossing of transnational borders, the diasporic movement of peoples, and the ultimate precarity of nationhood, race, and identity. Yanagi has said that he personally identifies with the piece, that it is related to the “borders I have had to cross or barriers I have confronted in trying to define myself as a Japanese.” ''The World Flag Ant Farm'' was exhibited at the 45th
Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...
in 1993, where Yanagi became the first Japanese artist to be awarded the Aperto Award as an emerging artist. In 1992, with the aid of the
Asian Cultural Council The Asian Cultural Council (ACC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing international cultural exchange between Asia and the U.S. and between the countries of Asia through the arts. Founded by John D. Rockefeller III in 1963, AC ...
, Yanagi was invited to the International Studio Program at PS1 Contemporary Art Center in
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
. This artwork marked the maturation of Yanagi’s ant farm idea and the beginning of a long series of ''Ant Farm Projects'' in which colonies of ants would slowly dissolve symbols of
nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...
, including
flag A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design empl ...
s,
currency A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general def ...
, and American art. ''World Flag Ant Farm'' (1990) is in the collection of the Benesse House, Naoshima Contemporary Art Museum,
Naoshima is an island in Japan's Seto Inland Sea, part of Kagawa Prefecture. The island is best known for its many contemporary art installations and museums. The administers Naoshima and 26 smaller islands nearby. As of 2020, the town has an estimated ...
.


''Ant Farm Project'' series (1990–2002)

Yanagi produced many more flag-based ant farm projects with a wide variety of different geopolitical combinations in the years following his debut of ''World Flag Ant Farm'' (1990), while living in New York but traveling to Japan regularly. Some of the largest ant farm installations he made after ''World Flag Ant Farm'' include: ''The World Flag Ant Farm 1991 -Asia-'' (1991); ''America'' (1994), connecting all nations of North and South America; ''Asia-Pacific Ant Farm'' (1995); and ''Eurasia'' (2001). Some of the more political pieces he produced included: ''The 38th Parallel'' (1991) connecting North and South Korea; ''Pacific - the Ant Farm Project'' (1996), connecting Japan and the U.S.; ''Union Jack Ant Farm'' (1994), encompassing the former
British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
; ''DMZ'' (1995) connecting
North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...
and
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
and an ambiguous zone between them that alluded to the
DMZ A demilitarized zone (DMZ or DZ) is an area in which treaties or agreements between nations, military powers or contending groups forbid military installations, activities, or personnel. A DZ often lies along an established frontier or bounda ...
; and ''2 China'' (1997), connecting
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
and
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
. ''Pacific - the Ant Farm Project'' (1996) gained particular traction in art and academic circles and is now in the Tate Museum’s collection. To create it, Yanagi not only included the countries that border the
Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
, but also the nations that once had colonies in the Pacific, as well as
indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...
groups like the
Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...
of
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
that have still not regained sovereignty over their territories. As such, the work challenged ‘neutral’ regional histories and symbols of sovereignty, instead engaging with the history of violent contestation in the
Asia Pacific region Asia Pacific Region can refer to: * Asia-Pacific * WOSM-Asia-Pacific Region * WAGGGS-Asia Pacific Region * Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC ) is an inter-governmental forum for 21 member economy, ...
.


''Money'' series (1999–2002)

In the later 1990s, Yanagi also began to create ant farm projects that engaged with a variety of national
currencies A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general def ...
, creating installations centering on large-scale motifs of American, Japanese, European, and other bills. Some works include ''In God We Trust'' (1999), ''Dollar Pyramid'' (2000), ''Yukichi KV644955H'' (2002), and ''Euro Circuit'' (2002). ''Euro Circuit'' consisted of 12
ant colony An ant colony is a population of a single ant species capable to maintain its complete lifecycle. Ant colonies are eusocial, communal, and efficiently organized and are very much like those found in other social Hymenoptera, though the vario ...
units, one to represent the highest value of cash currency for each country that originally joined the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
. As the ants tunnel through the installation, the distinctive currencies gradually dissolve into a ‘universal’ banknote, demonstrating Yanagi’s reflections on the possibilities of a world becoming more and more transnational.


Imperial symbolism and Article 9 – 1990s


''Hinomaru'' series (1990–1992)

From the early 1990s, Yanagi also produced a series of sculptures and site-specific installations that aimed to deconstruct the nationalist ideology of modern Japan through the motif of the
Hinomaru The national flag of Japan is a rectangular white banner bearing a crimson-red circle at its center. This flag is officially called the , but is more commonly known in Japan as the . It embodies the country's sobriquet: the Land of the Rising S ...
, or the
Japanese flag The national flag of Japan is a rectangular white banner bearing a crimson-red circle at its center. This flag is officially called the , but is more commonly known in Japan as the . It embodies the country's sobriquet: the Land of the Rising S ...
. The first of these works, ''Hi-no-maru 1/36'' was produced for his first solo exhibition in
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
at the alternative space STOREFRONT for Art and Architecture in 1990. ''Hi-no-maru 1/36'' (1990) was designed with consideration to STOREFRONT’s unique, triangular exhibition space. Positioned in a 10-part radial corner, Yanagi created an
infinity mirror The infinity mirror (also sometimes called an infinite mirror) is a configuration of two or more parallel or nearly parallel mirrors, creating a series of smaller and smaller reflections that appear to recede to infinity. Often the front mirror ...
using reflections on opposing walls of angled mirrors in order to produce the illusion of one red circle with radiating beams, a direct reference to the flag adopted by the
Japanese imperial army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...
during the
Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...
. This work was exhibited alongside ''American Flag Ant Farm'' (1989), becoming a New York debut that demonstrated Yanagi’s ongoing engagement with the instability of national borders and his own ‘entrapment within mobility.’ One particularly acclaimed piece from this series is ''Banzai Corner'' (1991). For this work, Yanagi arranged rows of red
Ultraman ''Ultraman'', also known as the , is the collective name for all media produced by Tsuburaya Productions featuring Ultraman, his many brethren, and the myriad monsters. Debuting with ''Ultra Q'' and then ''Ultraman'' in 1966, the series is one ...
and
Ultra Seven is a Japanese ''tokusatsu'' science fiction television series created by Eiji Tsuburaya. It is the third installment in the Ultra Series and was produced by Tsuburaya Productions. The series aired on Tokyo Broadcasting System from October 1, 19 ...
toy figurines into an arc with their bodies facing a mirrored corner to produce the image of a red circle. The uniforms of the toys create an illusion that once again alludes to the radiating beams of the Japanese Empire’s military flag. Each character has been carefully arranged so that its right arm is raised in the air to imply a victorious ‘Banzai’ in praise of the hinomaru, but viewers can see that in reality the figurines only celebrate their own reflection. Yanagi’s use of Ultraman and Ultra Seven figurines for this artwork has been attributed to the Okinawan identity of the character’s creator, Tetsuo Kinjō, who grew up during the American occupation of Okinawa. For Yanagi, the idea of alienation and otherness in Japan does not only refer to foreign nations, but also “to people living in Japan—
Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...
,
Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
, native Ainu, and Okinawans.” Yanagi also produced a billboard-sized neon work, ''Hinomaru Illumination'' (1992) which was exhibited at his solo exhibition at the Benesse House,
Naoshima is an island in Japan's Seto Inland Sea, part of Kagawa Prefecture. The island is best known for its many contemporary art installations and museums. The administers Naoshima and 26 smaller islands nearby. As of 2020, the town has an estimated ...
Contemporary Art Museum,
Kagawa may refer to: * , the smallest prefecture of Japan by area, located on the island of Shikoku * , a district in Kagawa Prefecture * , a town located in Kagawa District * , train station in Chigasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture * Kagawa (surname) Kagawa (w ...
in 1993; Art Market Fuji Television Gallery in 2001; as the central window artwork for the seminal exhibition “Japanese Art After 1945: Scream Against the Sky” at the
Guggenheim Museum SoHo The Guggenheim Museum SoHo was a branch of the Guggenheim Museum designed by Arata Isozaki that was located at the corner of Broadway and Prince Street in SoHo, Manhattan, New York City. The museum opened in 1992 and closed in 2001 after hosting ex ...
in 1994; as well as again at his solo exhibition “Akitsushima” at the
Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art The is an art museum founded in 1989. It is in Hijiyama Park in Hiroshima, Japan. The building was designed by architect Kisho Kurokawa. Representative collections Access *Hiroden Hijiyama-shita Station See also *Hiroshima Museum of Art * ...
in 2001. This neon work is visually related to other Japanese neo-pop artists of the early 1990s, but it also exposes the “feeble foundation of national illusion” of national symbols that are harnessed when convenient—a symbol that can be turned ‘on’ and ‘off’ at will. For example, for ''Amaterasu and Haniwa'' (1993) the neon flag was exhibited in the context of the Shinto Sun Goddess Amaterasu, alongside haniwa clay figurines that harken to the
Kofun are megalithic tombs or tumuli in Northeast Asia. ''Kofun'' were mainly constructed in the Japanese archipelago between the middle of the 3rd century to the early 7th century CE.岡田裕之「前方後円墳」『日本古代史大辞典』 ...
or
Yamato period The is the period of Japanese history when the Imperial court ruled from modern-day Nara Prefecture, then known as Yamato Province. While conventionally assigned to the period 250–710, including both the Kofun period (–538) and the Asuka ...
that has been associated with Japanese cultural origin. In addition, for ''Hinomaru Container'' (1992) Yanagi created another space of mirrored illusion within a shipping container shaped like an ancient
tumulus A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones buil ...
(
kofun are megalithic tombs or tumuli in Northeast Asia. ''Kofun'' were mainly constructed in the Japanese archipelago between the middle of the 3rd century to the early 7th century CE.岡田裕之「前方後円墳」『日本古代史大辞典』 ...
) but cumulating with a refracted neon Yen symbol (¥), critiquing the conflation of consumerism and identity.


''Chrysanthemum Carpet'' (1994)

Yanagi explicitly problematized the
Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere The , also known as the GEACPS, was a concept that was developed in the Empire of Japan and propagated to Asian populations which were occupied by it from 1931 to 1945, and which officially aimed at creating a self-sufficient bloc of Asian peo ...
and its legacy in his work ''The Chrysanthemum Carpet'' (1994), first exhibited at Yanagi's solo exhibition at the Peter Blum Gallery in New York in 1995. The artwork consists of a large, red carpet designed to look like a
Japanese passport are issued to Japanese citizens to facilitate international travel. As of 2022, with holders able to travel visa-free to 193 countries and territories, it has been ranked as the most powerful passport in the world. History The first travel docu ...
. It included an outline of the trademark chrysanthemum flower that is the
Imperial Seal of Japan The Imperial Seal of Japan or National Seal of Japan, also called the , or , is one of the national seals and a crest ('' mon'') used by the Emperor of Japan and members of the Imperial Family. It is a contrast to the Paulownia Seal used by the ...
, but with only one of its golden petals attached and the remaining 15 scattered around the expanse of the carpet. Black text woven into the carpet stands out starkly against the red background, reading “he loves me, he loves me not” in the languages of the Asian countries once dominated by Japan under the proclaimed
Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere The , also known as the GEACPS, was a concept that was developed in the Empire of Japan and propagated to Asian populations which were occupied by it from 1931 to 1945, and which officially aimed at creating a self-sufficient bloc of Asian peo ...
. On the underside of the carpet, hidden from view, Yanagi inscribed texts from three distinctive sections of the
Japanese Constitution The Constitution of Japan (Shinjitai: , Kyūjitai: , Hepburn: ) is the constitution of Japan and the supreme law in the state. Written primarily by American civilian officials working under the Allied occupation of Japan, the constitution ...
: Article 19 (Freedom of thought), Article 20 (Freedom of religion), and Article 21 (Freedom of speech, press, and expression). Besides directly confronting the debate about national memory loss and
historical revisionism In historiography, historical revisionism is the reinterpretation of a historical account. It usually involves challenging the orthodox (established, accepted or traditional) views held by professional scholars about a historical event or times ...
regarding the war period, by juxtaposing the visible imperial symbol with the obstructed democratic constitutional guarantees hidden below, Yanagi's installation pointed to the structural contradictions of Japan's modernization. The
Meiji Constitution The Constitution of the Empire of Japan (Kyūjitai: ; Shinjitai: , ), known informally as the Meiji Constitution (, ''Meiji Kenpō''), was the constitution of the Empire of Japan which was proclaimed on February 11, 1889, and remained in for ...
that marked Japan's emergence as a modern nation state both restored the absolutism of the
Japanese Emperor The Emperor of Japan is the monarch and the head of the Imperial Family of Japan. Under the Constitution of Japan, he is defined as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, and his position is derived from "the wi ...
system as well as established a
democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...
, and furthermore Japan's postwar constitution was established by the U.S. Occupation forces. The artist's choice to obstruct the democratic principles from view on the underside of the carpet alludes to the subtle continuity of the survival of the Japanese emperor system, even in the postwar. In the exhibition space, Yanagi's red carpet led to an Occupation-era photograph of
SCAP SCAP may refer to: * S.C.A.P., an early French manufacturer of cars and engines * Security Content Automation Protocol * ''The Shackled City Adventure Path'', a role-playing game * SREBP cleavage activating protein * Supervisory Capital Assessment ...
General Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was ...
standing with
Emperor Hirohito Emperor , commonly known in English-speaking countries by his personal name , was the 124th emperor of Japan, ruling from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. Hirohito and his wife, Empress Kōjun, had two sons and five daughters; he was ...
, captioned as ''Chrysanthemum and Sword'' with a quote by poet and novelist
Mishima Yukio , born , was a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, model, Shintoist, nationalist, and founder of the , an unarmed civilian militia. Mishima is considered one of the most important Japanese authors of the 20th century. He was considered fo ...
superimposed in red, reading “''Why should his Imperial Majesty become human?''” This inclusion evokes criticisms of the continuities and discontinuities of Japanese sovereignty ‘before’ and ‘after’ of the
Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...
, implicating the resilience of
Japanese nationalism is a form of nationalism that asserts the belief that the Japanese are a monolithic nation with a single immutable culture, and promotes the cultural unity of the Japanese. Over the last two centuries, it has encompassed a broad range of ideas a ...
as well as the
American occupation of Japan Japan was occupied and administered by the victorious Allies of World War II from the 1945 surrender of the Empire of Japan at the end of the war until the Treaty of San Francisco took effect in 1952. The occupation, led by the United States wi ...
decades later. About this work, the artist stated, ""All these people died for the emperor because they thought he was a god, and it turned out that he was just a small man with a human voice." Yanagi's carpet and the historical photograph have been installed together for several exhibitions together in the 1990s, including at the Art Tower Mito Contemporary Art Center in Ibaraki and the
National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...
in
Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...
, both of which also included war paintings from the Pacific War as part of the installation. In 1997, Yanagi created a smaller version of the ''Chrysanthemum Carpet'' as limited edition multiple entitled ''Loves Me/Loves Me Not'' (1997) during his residency at the Fabric Workshop and Museum in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
.


''"Project Article 9" Exhibition, 1995''

In 1995, 50 years after the end of World War II, Yanagi became the first artist to specifically address
Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution is a clause in the national Constitution of Japan outlawing war as a means to settle international disputes involving the state. The Constitution came into effect on 3 May 1947, following World War II. In its text, the state formally renounces th ...
, which renounced Japan’s ability to wage war after the end of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. To mark the significance of the year, the Queens Museum in New York hosted Yanagi’s solo show entitled “Project Article 9.” For this exhibition, Yanagi produced a series of textual installations that focused explicitly on the Article 9 clause in the postwar Japanese constitution. He modified a photograph of
SCAP SCAP may refer to: * S.C.A.P., an early French manufacturer of cars and engines * Security Content Automation Protocol * ''The Shackled City Adventure Path'', a role-playing game * SREBP cleavage activating protein * Supervisory Capital Assessment ...
General Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was ...
standing with
Emperor Hirohito Emperor , commonly known in English-speaking countries by his personal name , was the 124th emperor of Japan, ruling from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. Hirohito and his wife, Empress Kōjun, had two sons and five daughters; he was ...
(the same photo utilized in his ''Chrysanthemum Carpet'' installation'')'' and prepared two new large-scale installation artworks, ''Forbidden Box'' (1995) and ''Article 9'' (1995). Yanagi superimposed a historical photo of
SCAP SCAP may refer to: * S.C.A.P., an early French manufacturer of cars and engines * Security Content Automation Protocol * ''The Shackled City Adventure Path'', a role-playing game * SREBP cleavage activating protein * Supervisory Capital Assessment ...
General Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was ...
and
Emperor Hirohito Emperor , commonly known in English-speaking countries by his personal name , was the 124th emperor of Japan, ruling from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. Hirohito and his wife, Empress Kōjun, had two sons and five daughters; he was ...
standing together with the full text of Article 9 of Japan’s Constitution in three different forms: the draft version originally written by MacArthur, the finalized Japanese version, and its English translation. According to the Queens Museum’s executive director Carma C. Fauntleroy, Yanagi’s concentration on textual elements and translation led "viewer to reflect on the vagaries of communication through language and its implications in national and international arenas.” Yanagi utilized his residency at the Fabric Workshop and Museum in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
to create ''The Forbidden Box'' (1995) for the exhibition. The installation was made from two large-scale sheets of sheer nylon voile fabric, with screenprints of the giant
mushroom cloud A mushroom cloud is a distinctive mushroom-shaped flammagenitus cloud of debris, smoke and usually condensed water vapor resulting from a large explosion. The effect is most commonly associated with a nuclear explosion, but any sufficiently ener ...
that occurred when the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
dropped the atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima in 1945. In addition to the image, the 17-foot-long sheets of fabric also depict the text from Article 9, with the version originally written by MacArthur printed on the rear sheet, and the English translation of the Japanese version in the front, intended as a way for viewers to see the differences in the rhetoric between the United States and Japan. Like a cloud of smoke, the sheets of fabric seem to billow out from a lead box that had the words “
Little Boy "Little Boy" was the type of atomic bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 during World War II, making it the first nuclear weapon used in warfare. The bomb was dropped by the Boeing B-29 Superfortress ''Enola Gay'' p ...
,” the name of the atomic bomb, inscribed on the lid. Yanagi has stated that he included the box as a way to bring together two folktales, the Japanese children’s folktale of
Urashima Tarō is the protagonist of a Japanese fairy tale (''otogi banashi''), who in a typical modern version is a fisherman rewarded for rescuing a turtle, and carried on its back to the Dragon Palace (Ryūgū-jō) beneath the sea. There he is entertained ...
and the Greek myth of Pandora’s Box. On this, Yanagi stated, “universality of children’s tales enables us to know that we, as a species, share common core values and hopes all around the globe.” The mythologies of the box parallel Yanagi’s allegory for Japan that at once acknowledges Japan’s victimization in the aftermath of the atomic bombs but also the nation’s own role as a colonial aggressor in the
Asia Pacific Asia-Pacific (APAC) is the part of the world near the western Pacific Ocean. The Asia-Pacific region varies in area depending on context, but it generally includes East Asia, Russian Far East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and Pacific Is ...
— the Pandora’s box revealed a hope for a future world with no more victims of
nuclear warfare Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a theoretical military conflict or prepared political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conventional warfare, nuclear ...
. Yanagi also produced a large-scale
neon Neon is a chemical element with the symbol Ne and atomic number 10. It is a noble gas. Neon is a colorless, odorless, inert monatomic gas under standard conditions, with about two-thirds the density of air. It was discovered (along with krypton ...
light installation entitled simply “Article 9” for the exhibition, consisting of a set of neon signs encased in plastic box frames that spelled out the Japanese version of Article 9. However, the neon signs were disassembled, seemingly cast off in a pile of disjointed, glowing red parts incomprehensible as a whole. They cast red light around the exhibition space onto Yanagi's other works. Yanagi’s artworks from the “Project Article 9” show went on to be exhibited in Japan at the Kirin Plaza
Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...
in 1995. ''Forbidden Box'' and ''Article 9'' were also included more than 10 years later in Japanese curator Watanabe Shinya’s exhibition “Into the Atomic Sunshine” amongst works by other artists that engaged with Japan’s war history at Hillside Gallery in Daikanyama in 2008, Puffin Room in
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
in 2008, and the Okinawa Prefectural Museum & Art Museum in 2009.


Inujima Project - 2000s–present


Inujima Seirensho Art Museum

In 1992, Yanagi was invited to hold a solo exhibition at the brand new
Naoshima is an island in Japan's Seto Inland Sea, part of Kagawa Prefecture. The island is best known for its many contemporary art installations and museums. The administers Naoshima and 26 smaller islands nearby. As of 2020, the town has an estimated ...
Contemporary Art Museum (now Benesse House at Benesse Art Site Naoshima). He fell in love with
Naoshima is an island in Japan's Seto Inland Sea, part of Kagawa Prefecture. The island is best known for its many contemporary art installations and museums. The administers Naoshima and 26 smaller islands nearby. As of 2020, the town has an estimated ...
and the Seto Inland Sea, returning many times from his studio in Japan in the years following, searching for an opportunity to start a long term project in the area that addressed the harmful scars that the rapid industrialization of Japan had left on the beautiful region during the
Meiji Period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...
. After three years of looking for an appropriate site, Yanagi came across
Okayama Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Okayama Prefecture has a population of 1,906,464 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 7,114 Square kilometre, km2 (2,746 sq mi). Okayama Prefectur ...
’s Inujima in 1995, a depopulated island scattered with the ruins of a copper refinery dating back to the industrial Meiji Period, and the inspiration for Yanagi's Inujima Project was formed. In 1995, Yanagi came up with his vision for the revitalization of the entire island of Inujima; he aimed to revamp the long-defunct copper '"seirensho" (refinery) as a permanent, site-specific artwork using renewable energy, a project that was realized with the support from Benesse Corporation’s CEO at the time, Soichiro Fukutake. Yanagi and Fukutake were able to acquire Mishima Yukio's ' Shōtō House,' the former residence of the novelist and poet whose work Yanagi had engaged with in his artworks throughout the previous decade. Using dismantled and reconstructed parts of Mishima's residence, Yanagi spent years building a series of installations entitled ''Hero Dry Cell'' (2008) within the copper refinery, creating a permanent artwork that was also fused with the architectural heritage of the industrial site. After 13 years of collaborative work, Yanagi's Inujima Art Project was opened in 2008 as the Inujima Seirensho Art Museum. The Inujima Seirensho Art Museum has become a forerunner of the Setouchi International Art Triennale, a contemporary art festival that takes place across the islands in the
Seto Inland Sea The , sometimes shortened to the Inland Sea, is the body of water separating Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū, three of the four main islands of Japan. It serves as a waterway connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan. It connects to Osaka ...
. In 2010, the inaugural Setouchi International Art Triennale featured three installations created by Yanagi in collaboration with architect
Kazuyo Sejima is a Japanese architect and director of her own firm, Kazuyo Sejima & Associates. In 1995, she co-founded the firm SANAA (Sejima + Nishizawa & Associates). In 2010, Sejima was the second woman to receive the Pritzker Prize, which was awarded jo ...
, in addition to the Injuma Seirensho Art Museum Due to his long term project in Japan, Yanagi began traveling often between his studios in New York and Inujima, and eventually the artist closed his studios in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
to move back to Japan full time. He set up in a self-designed studio situated on the north face of the mountains facing the
Genkai Sea The is a body of water that comprises the southwestern tip of the Sea of Japan and borders the northern coasts of Fukuoka and Saga is a series of science fantasy role-playing video games by Square Enix. The series originated on the Game B ...
, in Itoshima City,
Fukuoka prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Fukuoka Prefecture has a population of 5,109,323 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,986 Square kilometre, km2 (1,925 sq mi). Fukuoka Prefecture borders S ...
. In 2005, he began working as an associate professor in the Faculty of Art at
Hiroshima City University is a public university at Hiroshima, Hiroshima, Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of ...
. He started a Contemporary Art and Theory Major in the Faculty of Arts and launched the Hiroshima Art Project, utilizing facilities that were unused due to the exposure to radiation as sites to exhibit artworks.


''Hero Dry Cell'' (2008)

Inside the defunct copper refinery that makes up the Inujima Seirensho Art Museum, Yanagi spent more than a decade constructing a six-part permanent art installation entitled ''Hero Dry Cell'' (2008) that utilized mirrors, natural light, local stones, water elements, and architectural collage to create an interconnected, multi-layered installation about the modernization of Japan and legacy of the postwar. ''Hero Dry Cell'' is made up of six parts that unfold inside the museum "like a hand scroll" in the following order: ''Icarus Cell, Solar Rock, Slag Note, Mirror Note, Icarus Tower, and Solar Note''. The second part, ''Solar Rock'' (2008) is of particular interest, using a natural light leak to create the illusion of a total eclipse—a black
hinomaru The national flag of Japan is a rectangular white banner bearing a crimson-red circle at its center. This flag is officially called the , but is more commonly known in Japan as the . It embodies the country's sobriquet: the Land of the Rising S ...
. A black half shadow circle is created with light and then reflected in a dark pool of water gathered below on a large slab of local Inujima granite, creating the illusion of a full circle of a Black Sun rising, perhaps another addition to Yanagi's ''Hinomaru'' Series that critiqued the imperial-era nationalism associated with the Japanese flag. The granite megalith embedded into the ground of ''Solar Rock'' can be connected to Yanagi's keen interest in the Mono-ha movement. In front of the black hinomaru, Yanagi's 'architectural collage' appeared to float in mid-air as deconstructed panels of a tatami-mat room from Mishima Yukio's former residence lined up perfectly in alignment to lead the viewers' eye into the shadowy abyss of the Black Sun, even as the windows catch light and dazzle the retina simultaneously. This sensation is similarly described by the artist himself when recounting his first morning on Inujima in 1995: the rising sun made an "imprint on his retina" that developed into this six-part installation which functions an "after-image of the sun he saw that first morning."


Recent years, 2010–present

After the completion of the Inujima Project, Yanagi has taken on more revitalization projects, such as the challenge of transforming an old junior high school on the remote island of Momoshima Island in
Hiroshima Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Hiroshima Prefecture has a population of 2,811,410 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 8,479 km² (3,274 sq mi). Hiroshima Prefecture borders Okayama ...
, establishing ART BASE MOMOSHIMA in the
Onomichi is a city located in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, facing the Inland Sea. The city was founded on April 1, 1898. As of April 30, 2016, the city has an estimated population of 141,811 and a population density of 497.8 persons per km2. The total a ...
Channel area in 2012. In 2016, Yanagi’s large-scale solo exhibition at
Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...
’s BankART1929 explored the past three decades of the artist's oeuvre, filling the entire museum. He unveiled a new installation work, ''Project God-zilla'' (2016), an anti-nuclear work about the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster of 2011.


Notable artwork and public collections

''World Flag Ant Farm'' (1990) - Benesse House, Naoshima Contemporary Art Museum,
Naoshima is an island in Japan's Seto Inland Sea, part of Kagawa Prefecture. The island is best known for its many contemporary art installations and museums. The administers Naoshima and 26 smaller islands nearby. As of 2020, the town has an estimated ...
''Banzai Corner'' (1991) - Fukutake Foundation,
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
''Hinomaru Illumination'' (1992) - The Museum of Art, Kochi,
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
''Hinomaru Container - Yamato Tumulus Type'' (1992) -
Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo The is a contemporary art museum in Koto, Tokyo, Japan. The museum is located in Kiba Park. It was opened in 1995. Collections *''Marilyn Monroe'' by Andy Warhol (1967) *''Girl with Hair Ribbon'' by Roy Lichtenstein (1965) *''Honey-pop'' by To ...
''Chrysanthemum Carpet'' (1994) -
National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...
''Article 9'' (1994) ''The Forbidden Box'' (1995) -
The Fabric Workshop and Museum The Fabric Workshop and Museum, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, is a non-profit arts organization devoted to creating new work in new materials and new media in collaboration with emerging, nationally, and internationally rec ...
,
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, USA ''Pacific - The Ant Farm Project -'' (1996) -
Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery located in London. It houses the United Kingdom's national collection of international modern and contemporary art, and forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is ...
,
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
''Dollar Pyramid'' (2000) -
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, or VMFA, is an art museum in Richmond, Virginia, United States, which opened in 1936. The museum is owned and operated by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Private donations, endowments, and funds are used for the su ...
Inujima Seirensho Art Museum (2008) - Fukutake Foundation,
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...


See also

Shimada Yoshiko Mono-ha
Yukio Mishima , born , was a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, model, Shintoist, Nationalism, nationalist, and founder of the , an unarmed civilian militia. Mishima is considered one of the most important Japanese authors of the 20th century. He was ...
Vito Acconci Vito Acconci (, ; January 24, 1940 – April 27, 2017) was an influential American performance, video and installation artist, whose diverse practice eventually included sculpture, architectural design, and landscape design. His foundational p ...
Frank Gehry Frank Owen Gehry, , FAIA (; ; born ) is a Canadian-born American architect and designer. A number of his buildings, including his private residence in Santa Monica, California, have become world-renowned attractions. His works are considered ...
Soichiro Fukutake
Jasper Jones ''Jasper Jones'', is a 2009 novel by Australian writer Craig Silvey. It has won and been shortlisted for several major awards including being shortlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award. The novel was selected by the American Librar ...
Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...


References


External links


Inujima Seirensho Art Museum

ART BASE MOMOSHIMA
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yanagi, Yukinori 1959 births Living people Japanese emigrants to the United States Japanese contemporary artists Yale School of Art alumni 21st-century American artists 21st-century Japanese artists 20th-century American artists 20th-century Japanese artists People from Fukuoka Artists from Fukuoka Prefecture Censorship in Asia Censorship in Japan Japanese activists Japanese installation artists