Five Elements: Sea of Japan, Hokkaido, 1986
This contemporary work was inspired by a medieval Buddhist “five elements” pagoda designed to contain relics of the Buddha. These pagodas represent the constituents of the cosmos, which are typically identified as earth (square), water (sphere), fire (pyramid), wind (half-moon), and air (jewel shape). The water sphere of this pagoda contains a small photograph of the ocean, printed from a negative that the artist used in the creation of a series of large-scale seascapes.
Artwork Details
- 海景五輪塔日本海 · 北海道1986年
- Title: Five Elements: Sea of Japan, Hokkaido, 1986
- Artist: Hiroshi Sugimoto 杉本博司 (Japanese, born Tokyo, 1948)
- Period: Heisei period (1989–2019)
- Date: 2011
- Culture: Japan
- Medium: Optical-quality glass with black-and-white film
- Dimensions: H. 6 in. (15.2 cm); W. 3 in. (7.6 cm); D. 3 in. (7.6 cm)
- Classification: Sculpture
- Credit Line: Gift of Sylvan Barnet and William Burto, in honor of John T. Carpenter, 2012
- Object Number: 2012.119
- Rights and Reproduction: © Hiroshi Sugimoto
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
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