I spent my day cutting up an artwork. It was an andon, a lantern. It was two meters tall and twelve meters around. I had made it for an exhibition in 2005, down the hill.
Kingyo gallery can be frustrating. It is a beautiful space and very nice people, but it is on a narrow road that no one uses. Hundreds and hundreds of people walk past on the main road, Hebi Michi Dori, about ten meters away. But they don’t turn to come past the gallery. I made a giant lantern to draw people in.
It was a limited success. A lantern looks best at night, all lit up. Unfortunately the gallery was not open at night.
After the exhibition I packed it. Even broken into eight it was large to store, for thirteen years, every year thinking that this year I may have a chance to use it.
I never did.
Enough was enough. Today I cut it into pieces.
It took almost as much effort to cut up for garbage as it did to make in the first place.
