The Spiral Basilisk

Inactive
4/27-11/10, 2024 (Closed on Tue & Wed except holidays)
Photo by ANZAÏ

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About the artwork

Although “the snake” has been despised as a tempter by the Christian world, in Japan and throughout the East it has been considered a sacred being, endowed with a special viitality that is perceived in its growth through the repeated shedding of its skn and whose coiled shape is suggestive of a spiral of death and rebirth. It is out of this understanding that the concept of this sculpture and its form originate. I have long used steel for my sculptures. The material, steel, was extracted from nature only after man was able to freely manipulate fire at high temperatures. It can be said that our civilization is mediated by “fire”.My image is linked together and develops from “the snake” and “fire”. “fire”→“flame”→“snake”→“spiral”→“geometry”→“nature”→“human history”→“flame of civilization”→“iron”→“iron sculpture”→“the spiral basilisk”. The sacred “fire” has presided over things, good and bad, that transcend human understanding. Light the fire, and the form protecting it is seen to be The Spiral Basilisk.

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Artwork no. T026
Production year 2003
Opening hours Daytime
Admission - (Depending on the period, Passport for viewing artworks and common tickets may be sold.)
Closed Closed on Tue & Wed except holidays (Outdoor artworks can be viewed even on regular closing day.) / Winter season
Area Tokamachi
Village MonET
Open dates 4/27-11/10, 2024 (Closed on Tue & Wed except holidays)
Venue Near Museum on Echigo-Tsumari, MonET
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