About the artwork

“Go, Heidi!” we heard again and again, as people remembered the girl of the Alps and her swing. At Daigonji Heights, where the three huge, eight-meter swings designed by the artist spruung up, grownups happily returned to their childhood and played, and children merrily asked their parents to push the swing higher. The work is based on La Monte Young’s concept in his “Composition 1960, #5”, which gives a suggestion to performers to “tum a butterfly (or any number of butterflies) loose in the performance area. When the composition is over, be sure to allow the butterfly to fly away outside”. The swings looked like six giant butterflies flying under poles on a steep slope using two backhoes, one large, one small. The fact that so many people who worked on the installation said that they were happy to see people playing on the swings speaks to the success of the project as a whole.