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Naoshima Bath: “I♥湯”
Reviews
Written by Satoshi KOGANEZAWA   
Published: September 16 2009

     What a greedy man I am to seek added value for Japanese-style public baths and hot springs, though it is pleasant enough just to sit in a large bathtub with my legs stretched out. I never go to bath houses since I have a bath at home, though it is narrow. Nonetheless, I went to a Japanese-style public bath which is located on a distant island, Naoshima, simply because Shinro Ohtake created it, the graf (a design office in Osaka) cooperated in its design and Makoto Azuma was involved in planting around it. The Naoshima Bath house was opened on July 26, 2009 under the name of “I♥湯 (I love you)”. This charming name appeals to the customers and softens their hearts before using the bath.

Shinro Ohtake, Naoshima Bath “I❤湯” (2009); photo:Osamu Watanabe, courtesy of Naoshima Fukutake Art Museum Foundation

Shinro Ohtake, Naoshima Bath “I❤湯” (2009); photo:Osamu Watanabe, courtesy of Naoshima Fukutake Art Museum Foundation

Shinro Ohtake, Naoshima Bath “I❤湯” (2009); photo:Osamu Watanabe, courtesy of Naoshima Fukutake Art Museum Foundation

     The appearance of the bath, located two minutes' walk from Naoshima Miyanoura Port, is extremely conspicuous. Above the front entrance where we find two palm trees which makes us feel as if we are in a southern land, there is a sign showing a silhouette of a woman’s body, from which extends a fierce red neon sign, “ゆ (hot water)”. On the wall, which was painted using white as its basic color, there are a number of brilliant colored concrete and unglazed tiles. Nevertheless, we are first struck by the dark green of the front door. The intense impression of the green color may be due to the potted plants which are displayed close together at the entrance and its surrounding area. Anyway, this green color contributes to giving us a friendly image of this strange-shaped public bath, behind which we find a quarterdeck has been attached. Naoshima is a small island from which the sea is visible in every direction, and it is lush with greenery. Therefore, the green-colored image of this public bath and that of Naoshima overlap, even though the plants which are displayed around the bath have not been arranged only in the island.

     After buying the entrance ticket at the ticket-vending machine, handing it to the woman sitting at the registration counter, and pulling aside the half-slit curtain, one enters the changing room. Here, there are many things that attract my interest, such as Ohtake’s collage works hanging over the lockers, the painted tiles created by Ohtake which create a cheerful image in the washroom, and the images of women divers which are shown on the monitor embedded in the benches. Nonetheless, above all, it is the way to take off our clothes. Opening the door of the bathroom, we must force ourselves to wash our bodies well before sitting in the bathtub. Indeed, this public bath is one of Ohtake’s creations, but it can also be said that it is a public facility which was made for the use of the island’s residents. Therefore, those who cannot observe good manners at the facility have no right to use it.

     The reason I am raising my voice to the readers in this way is that I felt, while taking a bath at the Naoshima Bath, that the essence of the matter would be hidden if we had a bath with the aim of “looking” at the creations of Ohtake or Azuma. I usually wear eyeglasses in my daily life because of my nearsightedness, but I do not wear them while having a bath at home because there is no need. Nevertheless, at this public bath, I entered the bathroom wearing my glasses because of my intense desire to “look” at the interior decorations. As a result, I could take a close look at them, but I did not feel I was really taking a bath. Of course, my glasses made it easier to see the figures of the creations, including the huge painting drawn on the front tile, the small elephant statue entitled “Sadako” which was put on the wall separating the male and female baths, the dynamic painting which was made on the top light, the collages wavering at the bottom of the bathtub, such as the pornographic paintings and pinups, and the array of plants displayed in the greenhouse at the back of the bathroom. Nonetheless, seeing everything in a bathroom clearly does not always mean enjoying taking a bath, does it?

     Then, I took off my glasses and just soaked in the bathtub while looking up at the ceiling vaguely. After that, the vividly-colored strokes drawn on the ceiling were transformed into a huge wave, and around my legs stretched out in the bathtub, I found there were many unidentified objects mixing with each other haphazardly in the rippling hot water. Gradually, my strength ebbed away, my skin became wrinkled, and I felt dazed. As time passed, I came to feel as if my body had become integrated with the bathtub and the whole space. That feeling may have been created by a loosening of the five senses, which must have been triggered in part by the creations made by Ohtake and Azuma. Nevertheless, if we paid attention only to the artworks, our bodies would get stiff. It may sound paradoxical, but now this public bath can be said to be a facility belonging to the public rather than a shrine to Shinro Ohtake’s artwork though it was in fact created by him. This is because the Naoshima Bath house is a public bath house. In other words, there is a difference between the significance of the “I♥湯” and that of many other artworks scattered in Naoshima, such as the hands-on work, “The Art House Project”. We go to public baths only to have a bath, without any intention of experiencing something.

     Indeed, the Naoshima Bath, which has just been opened, its interior decorations are sparkly clean in spite of the chaotic appearance, but, as the months go by, they will become tainted or broken. Some plants may grow unexpectedly and others may die because they do not suit the climate in Naoshima. Nonetheless, such changing processes caused by both people and nature, are appropriate for this public bath. What Ohtake created here is just such a living place. Fifty or one hundred years from now, if the bath still exists, will people still come here to have a bath even though everyone has forgotten the name of the person who created it? Or, will the “I♥湯” be a ruin like other public baths which will have become things of the past?
(Translated by Nozomi Nakayama)

Last Updated on November 14 2011
 

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