(2/2) THE STAR ANGER [2012-2013]
THE STAR ANGER
From “Anger” to “Festival”
THE STAR ANGER (2012-2013) is a gigantic sculpture with black horns sticking out from a mirrorball of 5m diameter. A top the ball, there is a roaring dragon. The artwork can be hung from a crane or can be set on a pedestal so it can rotate and reflect light in all directions, which could change the atmosphere of the space.
In 2012, it was commissioned by the committee for NAMURA ART MEETING ’04-’34, along-term art project planned to be held for 30 years at the site of the former Namura Shipbuilding. The work was to mark its 4th edition. Yanobe produced THE STAR ANGER as the next work following Sun Child (2011-2012), after the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident made him create “embarrassingly positive” artworks to transform reality for the better. However, he used the motif of “anger” on THE STAR ANGER, which can be perceived as a negative emotion. Since there were protests at the time against the restart of nuclear power plants without adequate reflections and inspections, he saw the people’s outrage as something positive and turned it into a form of artwork.
Later, THE STAR ANGER was installed a t the former-lighthouse site at Sakate Port in Shodoshima Island as a part of Setouchi Triennale 2013, and it became a new landmark of the port and its voyages. The sculpture was recognized even from a distance aboard ferries between Kobe and Takamatsu because of the way it reflected sunlight. Also, it was illuminated at night just like a lighthouse emitting light.
During the exhibition period of the Triennale that ran from spring to fall, THE STAR ANGER became a symbol of the local community. After the Triennale, local residents held the Bon Festival dance around the sculpture, and it became a permanent public art piece. The work was initially intended to be a short-term art project, but the solidly-constructed sculpture has continuously been exhibited in the same locations, even during typhoones. Although “anger” was the driving force to develop this work, it has definitely improved reality by welcoming visitors to the island and enticing residents to festivals.
