Japan Art Islands

"Ship Vanishing into a Golden Sea" by Ryo Toyofuku (Setouchi Triennale 2025)

"Ship Vanishing into a Golden Sea," by Ryo Toyofuku, may not be for everyone, and definitely was one of the most "obscure" artworks of the Setouchi Triennale 2025. I found it captivating.

Today, we continue our tour of the art from the Setouchi Triennale 2025 located in the Nakayama-Hitoyama valley on Shodoshima.

In case you missed the previous two, here they are:

While I can't imagine anyone disliking the previous two installations, I admit that today's art, Ship Vanishing into a Golden Sea, may not be for everyone. Ryo Toyofuku's name sounded familiar, and as soon as I entered the building, I remembered him. He took part in the first Triennale in 2010, on Shodoshima, with an artwork called Treasure Ship that didn't make a strong impression on me. You can see a glimpse of it in this very old post from Setouchi Explorer (one of the first ones I wrote). He was also on Ibukijima in 2013 with a different artwork called Unsinkable Ship, which I remember liking much more.

As I said, I instantly remembered Ryo Toyofuku's 2010 artwork when I entered the old Hitoyama warehouse where his new installation was located; because this is what you're faced with as soon as you step through the door:

But this is just an appetizer; the main part of the installation is on a completely different scale. It is located in a second room accessed by a ramp and after opening a mysterious velvet curtain.

Then, you arrive in a large, dimly lit room with an odd, orange, empty container that resembles a hot tub in the middle. Only when you approach do you realize that the elevated black "floor" around the tub is actually water. The room is completely filled with water, and the only way to reach the center and see all the details of the installation is to get in the tub via a tiny flight of stairs.

While the installation is mostly golden and monochrome, the details are numerous. Even after visiting twice, I'm not sure I saw everything. Looking at pictures, I discovered many things I had missed while I was there.

Describing the room would be a waste of time. I'll simply let you enjoy the pictures and video below. Remember that you can click on the pictures to see them larger.

Oh, yes! There was another way to enjoy the installation. You could rent a tiny boat and get much closer to the "accumulation" of golden elements. But I didn't do it.

Yes, there even was a real (?) stuffed tanuki.

Since I didn't want to start with this, here are some details about the first element at the entrance.

And let's finish with a short video that will give you an idea of what the space looked like as a whole.

As I mentioned earlier, I understand that not everyone appreciates this kind of artwork, and not all artwork is meant to speak to or resonate with everyone.

I don't have any specific information, but I'm pretty sure that it was a temporary installation, that it's now gone, and that only posts like this one remain to commemorate it.
I'll have more information about available artworks in a few weeks when the spring calendar is published. Some Art Setouchi pieces open during Golden Week and at other times too during the year.

As always, thank you for reading.
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