Benesse Art Island
Our second breath upon waking is used to inhale the breakfast included with our grubby little room at Cin.na.mon and our third to go full steam, head first, to where we really want to stay on this island — Benesse House. An architectural gem, a hotel in a gallery, built to house art and art lovers alike, where all can sit in harmony with...land and water, light and shadow. Oh how very modern, intellectual, subjective. The air up here, where art meets architecture is very high.
Of Benesse's four choices of lodgings here, Museum, Oval, Park and Beach, we are at the Park — overlooking Yayoi Kusama's pumpkin and other outdoor installations which are scattered across the landscape. Vividly unnatural but yet perfectly placed to be in balance.
The kinetic sculpture, "Peristyle V" by artist George Ricky, next to Benesse's lounge is deeply hypnotic and could easily put us to sleep had we not refreshed our cups of coffee.
With enough caffeine to open our minds, we start our ascend into Benesse's art sites by choosing the quietest, the Lee Ufan Museum, which houses art by the Korean artist. His enormous raw sheets of iron and rock are admittedly confusing. They beg the question, "Where does art begin?". Its a good way around till I realise I'm familiar with his works, having walked into one of his installations, years prior at the Guggenheim in New York. The act of falling into rather than merely touching the art is surely the highest level of art appreciation.
Our next stop is the Chichi Art Museum, built into a hilltop. Chichi meaning "in the ground" it certainly is, given it is entirely underground but filled with light from strategically placed skylights and open courtyards. The works that play with the light and architecture by artist James Turrell are breathtaking, a crowded gallery has never been so quiet. But the prized piece here, for us at least, is an enormous Claude Monet water lily painting, enhanced by a room filled with natural light from above and tiny hand-laid cubes of white Carrara tiles below. Shoes are not an option within this pristine landscape.
We've worked up quite the appetite, what with all these feasts for the eyes. We best not overcomplicate things at lunch and so head east, away from the museums, for burgers and beers at a local joint — they are deeply satisfying and feel rather pleased that our greasy fingers are far enough from the art to receive no judgement.
After lunch, when go further into the eastern side of the island, to see the Art House Project, where artists have transformed abandoned houses into projects woven into the traditional neighbourhood. The way art is embedded into this crazy little island is amazing and our eyes feast on these smaller scale works across six homes until our stomaches are rumbling again.
Fortunately dinner tonight couldn't be closer — in the Museum, and for a change in diet we've moved our booking from their Japenese restaurant to their French — Etoile de la mer, the Terrace Restaurant.
As we bid goodnight to the art over fine French food and wine the fact that we haven't left the museum doesn't escape us — the air here feels incredibly rare and how fortunate we feel to be able to take just a little of it in.
