Okuri

The artwork titled Okuri was constructed by the Artist Stuart Ian Frost and was created for a specific place on a mountainside above the village of Kamiyama on the Island of Sikoku, Japan in 2014. This particular area is well known for its pilgrimage trail to 88 temples!

This particular association, the pilgrimage and temple worship led Frost to use the monumental Temple bell in Chion-in as a source of reference. In addition, the intervention “Okuri” was inspired by the exhaustive use of bamboo as a building material and ornamental features found in Japanese traditional crafts. Frost’s sculptures are often created from these indigenous natural materials, which give them an identity and belonging to the local environment. The creative process connected to the development of this particular intervention also revolved around community involvement in the collection of large quantities of the natural material, bamboo. In this respect, the artwork could be seen as performative. Due to the fact that many local villagers helped in the processes associated to the creation of this monumental artwork from start to finish. Frost’s sculpture always possess a form for estrangement. The characteristic lavish structures visible within his artworks contain a proximity, similarity and continuation as found within the evolvement of the natural world.

The question of place, site and location has always been a central issue for sculpture. In this instance the particular sculpture belongs to the place because of its association with the temple bell/pilgrimage trail, the use of local natural materials and the involvement of the local community and therefore this artwork naturally enhances and changes the space it occupies. According to W.J.T Mitchell: “Sculpture wants a place to be and to be a place.” In this way, Okuri has obtained this ambition and has found its place.

Location: Kamiyama, Japan
Material: Bamboo