The Gutai movement was a group of artists reacting to a post-World War II society in Japan. The Gutai group celebrated experimentation, innovation, and creativity by making art through unconventional processes and art that crossed multiple disciplines. Most of their work makes you think and question what is art?
The picture above is from the 1960 International Sky Festival. The group recreated sketches from multiple artists onto banners and strung them between helium balloons and cables connected to a department store in Osaka. The group used this piece as advertising for their journal publication. It mixed sculpture and painting in a specific context--the sky.
I like this piece because it seems like a lot of work went into something that was probably hard to see from the ground. The balloon posters change with the wind, but act as a collective being. According to the exhibit website, one of the balloons flew away at the end of the day. This work could be a metaphor for our time on earth. We all interact, live together, have similar highs and lows, try to go with the flow, share beautiful moments, but eventually our lives will end. Even though they are just balloons because of their movement and majesty I feel that viewers can connect with them. At the same time this piece also feels very light and silly because balloons have a connotation of celebration. This work looks simple, but is very powerful.
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