Ogre’s House No. 1 by CHAOS*LOUNGE was an interesting but disappointing artwork for me. I didn’t get a chance to fully appreciate the artwork because part of it was turned off. When you enter the caves there is a TV where you can watch a short story that explains half of the artwork. The other half is a set of logs and other items with colourful splattered all over it. The best part of the entire exhibit was visiting the caves which were cool on a very hot summer’s day.
Ogre’s House No.1 – “Ogre Caves”
Ogre’s House No. 1 – Ogre Caves
When you enter the cave, you won’t see a lot. You will see a TV but when I went the TV was not on and there was no video playing. The video is integral to the actual exhibit as half of the exhibit seems to play around a guy who is stranded on the island. This part of the exhibit was completely lost on me and while I found the cut out posters of a guy getting stranded on Megijima and then interacting with things to be interesting, I just couldn’t understand how it tied into the entire cave artwork.
Ogre’s House No.1 – “Ogre Caves”
Ogre’s House No.1 – “Ogre Caves”
The other half of Ogre’s House No. 1 is the actual house. Throughout the cave you will see very colourful ogres. These ogres are not technically part of the artwork as it is part of the original tourist attraction. CHAOS*LOUNGE used them in their artwork as they added long pieces of driftwood with paint splattered on it. It was somewhat haphazardly painted and it looks somewhat like what an ogre would want to do. The colours are similar to what the typical ogre statues are in Japan, bright blue and red along with a few other colours such as purple and yellow. For some, this will be very interesting but I was unimpressed.
Ogre’s House No.1 – “Ogre Caves”
Ogre’s House No.1 – “Ogre Caves”
The time it took to create the artwork in Ogre’s House No. 1 must have taken a while. I can only imagine the time they needed to create it. I may not be a big fan of this artwork but I may have been biased by not being able to watch the first video. Unfortunately I do not believe this artwork will be around in 2019 but if it is I will try to check it out again and really understand what it is like.
Note: Ogre’s House No.1 “Ogre’s Caves” is no longer available on Megijima.
Information
- Ogre’s House No. 1 “Ogre’s Caves” (Official Setouchi Triennale Site)
- CHAOS*LOUNGE (Official Site – Japanese Only)
- Megijima’s Oni Cave During the Setouchi Triennale 2016 (Setouchi Explorer)
It’s a shame the video was off when you visited.
Now the installation (video included) is not for everyone, and it’s part of what Chaos Lounge does. I’m not too familiar with them, but I researched them a little bit, they’re doing things that can be shocking or at least unpleasant. One of their thing is to go against the dictatorship of the kawaii that rules unopposed all over Japan.
So in the cave, they pretty much did what they imagined an Oni cave would actually look like, that is gross, full of rotten things, ugly and so on. In the sense, they’re also mocking and going against the cute Oni that have been living in that cave for who knows how long.
Now, the funny anecdote. I indirectly inspired the video.
Back in January 2016, I met one of the guys from Chaos Lounge who had arrived on Megijima and who was in the process of making the structure that was in the cave (the pictures that you showed here).
He was the first of the group, and despite the locals kindness, he was quite bored, used to a very lively and probably intense Tokyo life.
Talking about the islands, the soon-to-be opened library of Ogijima became part of the conversation and I suggested that he visits the island on the opening day of the library a couple of weeks later.
He did so.
On that day, the wind was one of the worst I have ever seen in the area and more important the Seto Inland Sea was the “wildest” I had ever seen. When Meon arrived to Ogijima (and everyone returned on the 3pm boat, because we weren’t sure there was going to be a 5pm one, the sea was that bad), it looked very very scary. I was genuinely scared that the boat would tip over (those ferries are not made for rough seas).
The guy and his friend were so impressed that they shot a short movie of the boat navigating through the waves and trying to reach the port.
Once on board, while almost everyone was inside hoping the boat doesn’t capsize, a few people, including the members of Chaos Lounge, stayed outside, and it was a very interesting (and wet) experience (I couldn’t I was with my daughter, it was too dangerous for her to be outside).
The footage of Meon in the waves became the beginning of the video (that tells the story of a guy in a ferry that gets caught in a storm and ends up on an island full of Oni). 🙂
I remember that Chaos Lounge was in trouble for using images on the internet without permission, or somewhat in trouble. Unless my memory is incorrect. I can imagine how “divisive” they are, but I also think they are really popular in their own group, no?
As for the footage, sounds cool. Thanks for the story.