Art Aquarium Japan - Exhibition Turns Aquarium Into Works Of Art

September 26, 2021

Art Aquarium Japan - Exhibition Turns Aquarium Into Works Of Art

Since Art Aquarium first opened in 2007, it has exhibited across Japan and overseas, with Nihonbashi as its central base. It is held at places that communicate history and culture, including Nihonbashi Mitsui Hall, Nijo-jo Castle in Kyoto, and the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa in Kanazawa. The exhibit expanded overseas into Milan, Italy in 2015, and into Shanghai, China in 2018. The total number of visitors passed the 10 million mark with the “Art Aquarium Castle: Kumamoto / Revival of Kingyo” exhibit that was held in 2019.

Earth Aquarium Japonism

This art piece consists of an enormous aquarium 1.5 m in diameter designed to resemble the earth, inside which nishikigoi (colorful pond koi) swim. It is a work of art that exudes the overwhelming presence of the earth seen from space, colored with nishikigoi that symbolize beauty. By an unexpected mechanism, the art piece itself rotates as water flows along its surface, depicting the earth as a water planet.

A Show of Kingyo

Goldfish quietly and gracefully swim inside a shallow, cylindrical tank. The water’s surface is untroubled by ripples, and as the work is viewed from above, it is suitable for examining the goldfish. It is an aquarium filled to the brim with water, allowing you to enjoy the adorable expressions on the goldfish as they peer up with their faces just below the surface of the water.

Super Orian

This piece consists of an enormous fishbowl and the 17 aquariums that surround it, which are colored by resplendent lights in seven hues. In this aquarium from which cool water flows, 3000 goldfish dance and swim in the likeness of the women of the Edo period’s geisha district, creating a glamorous ephemeral dream-like world. The size of this fishbowl is 2.5 m in diameter and height, and the entire work has a maximum diameter of 5.6 m and height of 3.5 m. It contains about three times the water volume of “Oiran”, making it the largest work of art ever exhibited at the Art Aquarium.

Kimonorium

This piece was created through an encounter with the dyeing art of Kyo-Yuzen. A Kimono exemplifying the peak of Kyo-Yuzen, a tradition Kyoto craft, is immersed in an aquarium. 3D projection mapping shines pattern on it, and living goldfish swim around in it, crating shadows that complete this beautiful, one-of-a-kind kimono. This work of art lets you enjoy momentary patterns created by the uninhibited motion of the goldfish.

The Forest of Goldfish (Kingyo no Mori)

Beyond life sized column of waters, is the forest like pillars with goldfishes swimming. Once stepping into this world, it is a stroll through the profound mystery of the world of Goldfish. The boundary between the world of reality and the world of fantasy becomes parallel, making it feel like floating in the deep ocean.

Sekiterium

Sekiterium combines Japanese gardens with goldfish in a minimalist way, transcending the traditional concept of dry landscapes and subverting the previous concept of Japanese gardens. “Karsansui” is one of the unique styles of Japanese gardens. It does not use water but only sand, gravel and vegetation to present the landscape. However, in the dry landscape, there is the simplest “Stone Garden”. It does not even use plants and trees. The water is presented in the form of stones, and the beauty if found in the silence, which enriches the spirit of Japan’s “Wabi-Sabi”.

BonBorium

“BonBorium” isan aquarium that looks like a paper lantern. One fish swims inside one tank, and it imparts the sense of something mysterious and fleeting, like a silhouette. It emphasizes the cuteness of paper lanterns, which have been popular since the Edo period. Viewers can enjoy the interplay between the subtly lit goldfish and the slowly changing light.

Prisrium F12

The dodecahedral aquarium uses its transparent facets to produce a prismatic effect. Thanks to the magic of light, the school of fish swimming inside of it can look larger, smaller, or even distorted at times, providing unique ways of seeing them.