About the artwork

A large signboard appears at the intersection where the road from Tokamachi and Matsudai crosses the one for Matsunoyama. If we look closely we not only find a map of Matsunoyama, but also realize that we can actually go up to the map / tower. Kormeling started with a model that looked like a tiny tin toy. But expanded, it became a work almost 20 meters high without ceasing to resemble the original model. The text design is by Katsumi Asaba, a leading figure in Japanese typography who never had a chance to meet Kormeling until the completion of the project. Asaba, in grasping Kormeling’s artistic intention and designing the font to be used on the sign, seems to have been spiritually in tune with his as-yet-unseen partner. When they finally ran into each other by accident in front of the work on the day of the opening, they hugged each other immediately. The azaleas around the work were planted by Kormeling and the local people.