Friday on Teshima Island

In spite of my most valiant planning efforts, we decided this morning that we could not manage to do both of the two additional main islands in one day.  The ferry schedule just was too infrequent, and Teshima, our ultimate destination, had some transportation peculiarities - to be explained - that we felt might be limiting.  So we settled on Teshima as our focus, mainly to see the Teshima Art Museum, another Ando structure.  I had read all the reviews on TripAdvisor.  They all say:  "It's one of the most amazing things I've ever seen.  It's a must-see.  Do not miss.  Sorry, but I can't describe it."

Well, now I understand both the accolades as well as the challenges of describing it.  But first let me cover logistics and I'll get back to it.  We took the bus shuttle to the ferry and the ferry to the island of Teshima.  However, the ferry goes to a port that is not close to the Museum.  There are several options to getting there.  The most commonly taken option is to rent an electric bike.  It's about a 30-40 minute ride there.  Although Lenny certainly would have been fine, I'm not all that comfortable on a bike in general, continue to suffer some pretty bad back pain, and was concerned about how to handle the narrow mountain roads ... so all in all, found the bike idea a touch intimidating.  The other option was the local bus, so we decided to give that a go.  

Fortunately, this turned out to be super easy.  They had an English printed schedule available.  The bus driver was friendly.  And, in the end, it took only 15 minutes, so was much faster.  Good choice ... at least for us.  It also meant we got to the Museum with very few other people, which turned out to be fabulous.

First, let me describe the surroundings.  In a word - it's gorgeous.  I must admit that we were helped today by spectacular weather.  It is clear and crisp - my favorite weather.  The rice in the terraces around Teshima has turned yellow - about ripe - and is beautiful.  The sea is magnificent blue. 

Okay, finally I'll tell you about the Teshima Art Museum.  First, it's not a museum.  I don't know why they call it that.  It's basically a giant sculpture ... a building that is a piece of sculpture.  It is tucked low into the ground, is white and oval in shape, with two large oval holes in the ceiling.  You first take a path around a tree grove and then enter the building, having taken off your shoes, through a tunnel.  It is very solemn inside as you are supposed to keep quiet and no photos are allowed.  

I took a photo in the gift shop which has a vague resemblance to the structure.  The light shines through the two ovals and warms the concrete floor below, while the rest of the floor is in shadow.  Of course, the oval sun spots move over the course of the day.  The room is completely empty.

The funny aspect is that there is water on the floor.  I don't mean giant puddles of water, although there are occasional large puddles.  I mean small droplets.  They somehow keep their form (more from Lenny soon).  You can look at a spot with a dazzling array of tiny, separate droplets.  Or, you can see one larger drop, with several smaller ones next to it.  Sometimes, they are on the move.  The floor must be slightly irregular, and there are emitters around that are dribbling out new water drops that collect and head out in search of others.  Sometimes they form snakes and streak across the room.  Other times they are big drops that break into smaller drops.  Occasionally there were tiny drains where the water disappeared.  I know this sounds goofy but it turns out to be mesmerizing.  It was almost like watching a movie - you wanted to see where certain drops would go and what they would do.  You had to walk carefully so as not to step on the water droplets.

Now, I need to tell you that Lenny and I saw this place from two totally different angles.  I saw it as a meditation on life.  It was almost like sperm meets egg ... cells divide ... cells recombine ... alliances are made and broken ... two drops stand near each other but do not connect .... etc.  Lenny, however, saw it as a science experiment.

[From Lenny: The liquid seems to be water, but clearly has something added to increase the surface tension. The movement that makes it seem alive is caused by the balance between surface tension trying to minimize the area of the water globule and the gravity of very slight inclines trying to break them apart. Heat from sun seems to reduce the surface tension and cause the direction of movement to change. The result: moving amoeba-like globules that range from 1/8" to two feet in diameter, and skinny running "snakes" as long as six feet colliding and merging with globules.. The globules and snakes are continually created and destroyed as the emitters add new liquid and the occasional drains absorb it. This should be an Exploratorium exhibit!]

We stayed quite a while ... sitting on the cool cement, with only a few other people around (the bicycles had not yet arrived!) ... watching the water, watching the light.  It was still and meditative and quite beautiful.  Okay - I probably didn't do it justice, so let me just say, it was worth the trip! Since they don't allow photos, you'll have to use your imagination. We can't even find any illicit videos of the water in motion on YouTube!

After this, our plan was to visit a few of the other art installations on the island.  We walked to the next town (the buses are quite infrequent ... this is when the bicycle would be better) and went on a quest to find the art projects there.  The first one we found was closed - our first disappointment on the trip.  Then, the second one also was closed.  We managed to ask someone local, who said that they all were closed today, at which point we looked at each other, grabbed the bus schedule, and realized that if we hustled, we could catch the bus back to the port.  Otherwise, we would have to wait an hour.  Thankfully, we were able to be spontaneous in spite of my OPD, and we got back to the port. 

We visited the one art project in the port town that was created by a probably hallucinogenic artist who outfitted an old house with his work.  One thing I liked was a silo-like tower that was covered inside with postcards of waterfalls from floor to ceiling, with mirrors above and below the glass floor we walked on that made it seem infinitely tall..  Strange but effective.

We caught the early boat back to Naoshima and then wandered around that port town for a few hours. We visited the second pumpkin, the red one . I like the orange one better .. but the red one is fun because you can go inside it ... many photo opportunities, for once.  

The highlight in town was lunch in a local Udon shop, where we watched the chef stir the noodles in the pot while simultaneously kneading another batch of dough with his feet (under a sheet of plastic).

Then we headed back up to the Oval for a beautiful sunset and a toast with champagne for a final evening on Naoshima.

Donna