SAUNA in the middle of the Esplanade!

When Mr.Hayashi came to Riga and had a choice to get know Latvian culture in person, he was amazed how many things there are in common in Latvian and Japanese ancient cultures. But still there were also lot of things different. These two aspects were taking into consideration when the idea was born. The clash of two worlds that generates a new one by merging together understanding for traditions, importance of power of nature and human. In fall 2014, in a very city center in one of fountains of Esplenade onsen will be built. This interactive installation will be as paraphrase for public bathing. In Japan this is onsen, in Latvia this is swimming pool, because Latvian sauna requires privacy. You go into the sauna only with people that are close to you: relatives or people whom you like and trust. On the one hand this interactive installation demonstrates respect for nature, on the other hand ambitions to take a control of it.  City inhabitants and guests will have a possibility to take a shower in a log cabin and then enjoy outdoor wood-fired bath.

Date:

3-12 Oct. 2014

Place:

Esplanāde
http://www.vietas.lv/eng/objekts/esplanade/

Artist:

Hayashi Yasuhiko (Japan), Aigars Bikše (Latvia)

Artist’s profile:

Yasuhiko Hayashi 
The artist Yasuhiko Hayashi was born in 1971 in Higashiosaka. In 2001 he graduated from Planning Design Department, Faculty of Fine Arts of Kyoto City University of Arts. In 2001 together with Yusuke Nakano they established an art unit called Paramodel. Drawing on the industrial landscape of their native East Osaka, the members of artist collective Paramodel create dense but playful micro-worlds. Their work typically involves reorganizing everyday materials, such as toy railway tracks or plumbing tubes, into vast and complex systems covering the floors, walls and ceilings of gallery spaces, often creeping down hallways and into gardens. Paramodel’s modular systems are able to occupy any given space and are alive to their site: local communities are often invited to assist in the construction of the works, while elements of the location can be included as subject and material. Paramodel has had solo exhibitions in Japan and took part in group exhibitions all over the world. Their works can be found in several public collections.
http://www.moriyu-gallery.com/artists/profile.html?artist_id=3&l=jp