Members of the public had the chance to take part in the creation of a participatory art project that resulted in a fabric sculpture now installed at LongHouse Reserve in East Hampton, NY. The brainchild of Mariyo Yagi, a Japanese environmental artist, the collaboration is part of the work’s ultimate aim–to foster peace.
The NAWA Axis for Peace Project 2014 was created with a team of over 100 volunteers who turned out for the workshop and sculpture creation. The LongHouse site marks the first United States installation of the Yagi’s public art collaborative peace project. It took place on May 31, 2014 and was held in partnership with the Textile Arts Center in Brooklyn, NY. The sculpture will remain on view through 2017.
Check out the slideshow to see the sculpture in the making:
"NAWA Axis for Peace - Project 2014" with artist Mariyo Yagi. Photo by Tom Kochie.
NAWA Axis for Peace is based on the collaborative creation and installation of a monumental rope sculpture, with the strands of the rope fashioned from different pieces of brightly colored printed fabric.
“Called the NAWA Vital Link Projects,” these artistic undertakings occur as collaborative ritual events that actively unite people and community in the spirit of peace,” Yagi stated in describing the process for the LongHouse Reserve.
“Together, our monumental creation – the NAWA Column – symbolically binds a wide range of persons, transcending all boundaries, ages and differences in backgrounds,” she continued. “These works contribute to the revitalization of communities, awakening relations between nature, culture, and individuals, nurturing harmony in our common quest for world peace.”
Volunteers working on the sculpture. Photo by Tom Kochie.
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Mariyo Yagi is an internationally acclaimed Japanese environmental artist who works in a variety of media and at different scales. Since the 1970s (when Yagi worked as assistant to Isamu Noguchi) Ms. Yagi’s rope-form sculptures have been exhibited around the world.
Yagi’s awards include the 21st Kyoto Prefecture Culture Prize (Artistic Merit), an Urban Design Award (Toyonaka City, Japan), an Urban Art Award (Mauberge, France), Copper Prize Award (San Francisco Museum of Art) and an honorary doctorate. Her work is included in such collections as the Tokyo National Museum of Modern Art, the Brasilia National Art Museum, the Fondation Toms Pauli, and many others.
Check out the slideshow for more images:
View Slideshow.
Almost finished sculpture. Photo by Tom Kochie.
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BASIC FACTS: NAWA Axis for Peace—Project 2014, a collaborative art event and installation by artist Mariyo Yagi, took place on May 31 2014 at LongHouse Reserve. The sculpture remains on view through 2017. The event was held in partnership with the Textile Arts Center in Brooklyn, NY. LongHouse Reserve is located at 133 Hands Creek Road, East Hampton, NY 11937 www.longhouse.org.
RELATED: “Many Hands for Many Strands of a Collaborative Peace Project” Published May 30, 2014.