Tea Ceremony Tour, Part Three

We finished our Tea Ceremony Tour by passing through a gate into the inner tea garden.  

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Just inside the gate is this bronze sculpture.  As with sculptures we visited earlier during the tour, Tom Sachs used bricolage to reimagine something - in this case, a traditional Japanese bonsai tree.

Bonsai by Tom Sachs

Traditional Japanese bonsai tree

Sachs first constructed his sculpture using common materials such as cotton swabs, toothbrushes, cardboard tubes, and a cardboard box.  Below is a picture of the original sculpture made with these items, which was destroyed during the process of making the bronze sculpture included in the exhibition.

Bonsai by Tom Sachs (original version)

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Sachs constructed aTea House where the host of the tea ceremony makes tea and serves it to his or her guests.  Matcha (hot green tea) is served  along with light snacks.  Before taking a closer look at the Tea House, we designed a special utensil that we would want to use to enjoy our favorite food or drink.

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One snack that Sachs serves to his guests during tea ceremony is Brown Wave - peanut butter carefully spread across Ritz crackers, served on a special tray.

Brown Wave by Tom Sachs

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At the end of our tour, some students took a short break in Okimachiai (Inner Waiting Arbor).

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Tom Sachs not only loves the tea ceremony tradition; he is also fascinated by space and space travel.  One way that these two interests come together is in the porcelain tea bowls that he makes by hand and stamps with the NASA logo.  It just so happens that Adriana dressed as an astronaut on the day of our tour, so we snapped a special photo of her in front of the Large Chawan Cabinet containing a selection of tea bowls.

Future astronaut?

Tea Ceremony Tour, Part Two

At the beginning of our Tea Ceremony tour, we were introduced to artist Tom Sachs's interest in traditional Japanese culture.  In this exhibition, he not only reimagines specific objects such as the samurai helmet and bronze lobster, he also reimagines the entire tradition of Japanese tea ceremony.

We began by discussing examples of ceremonies including graduations, birthday celebrations, funerals, and weddings.  Traditional Japanese tea ceremony refers to the experience as well as the tools used to make and drink hot green tea, also called matcha.  In his exhibition, Tom Sachs creates an environment for a visitor to enjoy before drinking tea.

This environment is meant to be welcoming, beautiful, and peaceful.

Koi Pond by Tom Sachs

We spent some time looking quietly at the gold, grey, and black koi fish in Koi Pond.  Close your eyes and imagine that you are watching fish slowly swim around this pond while listening to the soft sound of running water.  How does this make you feel?

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After enjoying the beautiful environment, guests put on special clothes for the tea ceremony. This includes a smock inspired by traditional Japanese kimono. Tom Sachs also creates two kinds of shoes: Nike sneakers that he alters by cutting away sections, and shoes inspired by traditional Japanese shoes called tengu geta.

Tengu Geta by Tom Sachs

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