Saturday, December 25, 2004
SCAI The Bathhouse
As some of you may (or may not) know, SCAI The Bathhouse is one of THE coolest modern art galleries in Tokyo. As its name implies, it used to be a sento - a traditional Japanese public bathhouse - which was established in 1787. In remodeling the space, the integrity of the original structure has been preserved (which doesn't happen as often as it should here in Tokyo), he space features typical Japanese roofing tiles, over 7 meter high ceilings, and skylights providing for natural sunlight. Rock. Now instead of taking a bath, you can immerse yourself in art there. All of the hardcore 「谷根千」 kids have already been there, no doubt. SCAI has been exhibited the works of prominent artists, such as Tatsuo Miyajima, Masato Nakamura, Anish Kapoor, Julian Opie, Lee Bul, etc. and they also hold lectures, performances, films, etc. The funnest thing to do is fill out a little questionnaire at the gallery across the street, they will loan you a rad bicycle for a couple of hours. Then you can tool around the 下町 in style. Kudos!