The Fantasy Iron Realm: Discovering Bori Kiyonori's Sculptural Mastery
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➡ Industrial: Forging Bori's Way
I Just Didn't Get It
I just didn't understand what I saw. The pieces before me were undoubtedly art; at first glance, they had that unmistakable air all true art possesses. Anyone with a certain sensitivity could tell. In other words, they were sitting there as if from centuries ago.
Yet, I struggled to grasp what they were, and I hesitated to join the chorus of admiration and declare, "Oh, they're amazing!" as others did at the show. I'm not one to pretend to understand art. I'm a writer. I'm a painter as well. I have to be honest and sincere in my assessments. So, I stood there, pondering:
- Were they beautiful?
- Not really.
- Were they crafted with precision?
- I don't think so.
- Were they skillfully executed?
- I don't see it that way.
Maybe you should ask yourself: What makes art powerful?
- Do they awaken your senses?
- Do they enlighten your mind?
- Do they stir your emotions?
You can expect art to evoke even deeper feelings.
- Can they ease the torment and anguish I've been carrying from seven years ago?
Well, I wasn't sure about Bori's... and what came to my mind was Duchamp.
Industrial Essence
Thinking about art history from both Western and Eastern perspectives, as Bori's sculptures seem to embody an 'industrial' essence, it was easy to come up with Marcel Duchamp's work for comparison.
Duchamp's famous 'Fountain' stood alone as an industrial product—a simple porcelain urinal signed 'R. Mutt'—displayed in New York in 1917. The Frenchman's brilliance captivated me when I realized that the signature was indeed a pseudonym.
It was one of the pioneering works of conceptual art, leaving a significant impact and influencing artists worldwide.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
"Tell the truth!"
"Then, what is Art, do you think?"
It simply poses sharp questions to people living their ordinary lives. It might be seen as an antithesis to civilized society or a redefinition of happiness. Anyway, it is indeed a sophisticated form of social education.
Bori’s works, however, are not 'Ready-made.' So, they are something else. What about Andy Warhol? Roy Lichtenstein? Am I stretching it too far?
Those popular Pop artists utilized industrial imagery, consumer products, and mass media references in their artworks. They were geniuses who reconstructed notions of beauty.
However, once more, Bori's works are something else. His creations incorporate industrial elements in their existence, but they don't necessarily utilize specific products or any ready-made images in the same way as Pop Art. I murmured to myself,
"Oh my... Have I NEVER seen anything like this before...?"
There, I came to realize that, I might have been looking at a form of art unknown to me, and for the first time in my life. (That's why I decided to write this article. I actually had a scene in my mind that might have something in common with Bori's, and that was what I saw in Hungary in the 1990s. I'll tell you more about it later, if not never.)
Material Calls
Iron it is. His sculptures are made of iron. No bronze, no copper. Neither silver, nor gold plated. Iron it is.
Have you ever been attracted by iron sculptures? I haven't. Never. Why? Because I like Michelangelo and Kaikei. I love their sculptures like 'Pieta' and 'Jinja Taisho.'
Pop art is certainly interesting and attractive, but it's more 'Pop Art' than 'Art' in my opinion. It doesn't shake my soul, stir my guts, or send shivers down or up my spine.
The Renaissance master employed white marble from Tuscany, while the brilliant Buddha sculptor from Japan's Kamakura era (13th century) crafted sculptures from centuries-old trees. Both created artworks that stir something within me, reaching deep into my organ. Gut-wrenching? Ass-clenching? To be perfectly honest.
Use paper mache to make a paper mache object. Use craft tape to make a craft tape object. They can serve as prototypes, but they can never be granted a soul inside.
Likewise, when it comes to a 'metal sculpture,' bronze is the material of choice. With bronze, artists have the freedom to fully engage their fingers and creativity to shape the original clay model. Through the casting process, this model can then transform into an object that will withstand the test of time, just like the works of Rodin.
Iron as a material has never attracted me. Once more, why?
Sorry! Because it is Iron! Monkey bars! Slides, bicycles, cars, guardrails, iron bridges, building's steel frames, battleships, handguns, cannons!
Our lives are surrounded by iron, and making something from iron bars and plates, with cutting, bending, and welding them together, doesn't create anything but 'Industrial' feel and the smell of iron.
Iron has an unnatural odor, doesn't it? Just look back in time, and you will see that producing iron has destroyed nature. Countless trees were cut down for fuel. In ancient Mesopotamia, King Gilgamesh killed Humbaba, the forest god, for the sake of human progress to begin.
They are tools for farming and tools for fighting.
They are not materials for creating art.
Iron is iron. You don't want to put your soul by or beneath it.
"Just Pick It Up," He Said
I had to ask Bori himself while he was around at his show. What I couldn't understand was,
"Why do your iron smell natural?"
Or, more precisely,
"Why on earth am I attracted to iron?!"
He furrowed his brow slightly, but then gave me a gentle smile and pointed to a piece with his bandaged finger, instructing me to break a taboo at any art show.
After a millisecond of hesitation, joyously I picked it up and exclaimed,
"Oh my, it's so heeeeavy!"
It could have weighed 20 lbs. Well, I may have exaggerated a bit, but it was genuinely heavy.
A shiver ran up my spine, starting from my buttocks. It wasn't one of those iron sculptures made by assembling rods and plates to form chimera-like organisms or robots, or whatever. Nor was it a hollow inside bronze sculpture either.
It was solid iron.
A cannonball...? A shot put ball...? With a face... or face-like patterns...? The shiver that traveled up my spine reached my mouth, and questions rushed out of it.
How are they made?
With what discipline?
What on earth are they?
I interviewed Bori three times until I reached some sort of answer-like thing. What philosophy and belief does he have behind it? I repeatedly asked him torturing questions that forced him to try hard to put it into words. Here is the answer first.
Fantasy it is, I think.
Don't you get it? If I put it into other words, it will be,
Praying.
You still don't get it? I don't think you do. I'll have to explain the creating process, Phase One, for your understanding.
A Scrapyard of Another World
Most likely, it's not the kind of "scrapyard" you're familiar with. This one resides within the vast and city-sized "Iron Mill" that is inaccessible to the general public like you and me. But here, Bori finds the materials for his creations.
Surprised? I guess not, as you likely don't know what it's like there.
The discarded and stacked-up scrap materials there aren't mere trash or garbage. While they are indeed discarded, they aren't used or wasted.
Imagine magma in a volcano. Those scrap materials are the ones fresh out of magma-like molten metal in a blast furnace, and that is the very first stage of the 'Ironmaking' in the steel industry. So they are newly born iron mass.
Bori ascends the mountain of iron, comprised of cut-offs, misproduced, or mystically somehow exploded pieces. He plunges into the abundant ocean filled with newly forged 'iron sculptures.'
Hence, the details, textures, and curves you see on Bori's creations are accidentally formed and almost like 'Cries at Birth' of newly born iron itself.
Do you get it now about his works? Huh? Have I just said something absurd? Yes, I may have. Now, I have to lead you to the Phase Two of his creating process.
Let It Be
As I've just mentioned above, the intricate details, textures, and curves you see on Bori's creations are formed accidentally. He deliberately avoids manipulating the scrap pieces he selects, and this principle forms the foundation of Bori's sculptures.
Proudly, I came to realize the depth of his philosophy during the visit to his show (although I couldn't grasp its essence), particularly when I encountered this piece, or rather, when I met 'Her.'
You got that? I hope you do. She instantly wrenched my gut and sent shivers up my spine to the neck.
She was writhing in embarrassment as I stared at her.
If you don't get this 'Iron Fairy,' or 'Iron Goddess,' take a look at this one.
That's the essence of Bori's creative philosophy. It can be summed up as:
There's no need for human intervention.
(Then, how does he convince himself to present untouched pieces of iron as his own creation? I'm going to write about it. Remember these pieces. Or maybe I won't be good enough to tell you.)
Accidentality
Here, let me try putting his creating discipline and belief into clear words.
Accidentality ― could be one. Why is there no need for human intervention? Because,
The shapes born accidentally by chance bear the hand of nature.
I should quote his own phrases and make it clearer.
"The spirits of iron manifest themselves during the steelmaking process."
"Oh, I got it!" I instantly recalled that the ancient Chinese cosmology 'Wuxing' states that five elements form the universe. And they are,
Earth, Wood, Iron, Fire, and Water
Long before Homo sapiens began utilizing it, or rather, since the very beginning of the universe, iron has been a key element. If so... it is natural that such a pure element harbors its own 'Spirits,' much like the mystical power we perceive emanating from trees, rocks, water, skies, and beyond.
Am I confusing you again? I thank you very much for reading this far. I aim to make it more understandable as we approach the end. (Or perhaps not.)
Self-Doubt
Until his mid-thirties, Bori Kiyonori was an active and emerging artist who, alongside holding his own shows and creating public monuments, organized international symposiums for iron sculptures that attracted world-famous artists like Frank Stella and Phillip King. Then, he ceased producing any new creations.
He simply found himself lost in the dark.
I first met him during this period of artistic stagnation, or what seemed like a moratorium. At the time, I mistook him for nothing more than the unique owner-bartender of a gallery pub that was an air-raid shelter tunnel during the WW II, where I held a small show for my paintings shortly after returning from the States. The bartender, sporting a beard, was a quiet, smiling man as I ordered a beer.
Little did I know, the bartender concealed the identity of an iron sculptor was wrestling with perpetual self-doubt.
By the way, this is the part I favor most in this story.
Since he was a little kid, he had been drawn to iron and the iron mill of his city. After studying art, he thought he had found his own path as an artist, following an abstract style influenced by the West. But suddenly it came as if doomed:
"Am I doing it right…?"
If you sincerely follow the path that is true to yourself, and without deceiving yourself, everyone inevitably faces and must overcome this period of pain at least once or twice. In other words, no pain, no creation.
Bori returned to creating in 2021. Any attempt to fully grasp his mental state during this period and what prompted him to resume his artistic journey would be speculative. Therefore, I can only provide some clues based on the information he shared with me, and a bit of my idea.
Ancient Jomon era of Japan and Oribe pottery
I wonder if you ever heard of the Jomon era of Japan. It is the significant and mysterious period in prehistoric Japan, spanning from around 14,000 BCE to 300 BCE. Let me reiterate that this era occurred more than ten thousand years ago. The hunter-gatherer society of this time is characterized by its distinctively and mysteriously designed clay pottery and figurines called "Do-Gu." In addition to the fact that I love them, they are among the oldest in the world, and their uniqueness is something almost otherworldly, prompting us to wonder about the indigenous Japanese people's perception of nature and everything around them. As the Jomon era lasted unbelievably long, it is possible that the people lived in peace, valuing a harmonious relationship with their environment and neighboring communities, I reckon. That might be the concept "WABI," he mentioned and it can be translated to the "Peace of Beauty," but I haven't reached to the understanding fully enough to be able to explain.
Oribe pottery is a type of Japanese ceramics that originated during the late 16th century and is named after Furuta Oribe, a prominent tea master and disciple of the tea ceremony founder Sen no Rikyu himself. Bori mentioned that his ancestor played a significant role in Oribe pottery, and he has been conducting research on the subject. I suggest you ask him directly; he is quite talkative.
The Fantasy Iron Realm
Maybe, just maybe, she, born in the scrapyard, was the one who thawed his frozen mind, in my personal estimation.
"Wow! How cute she is!"
Just as I shouted, that exclamation alone could have been enough. And perhaps he realized that giving a tiny bit of assistance to them was all it takes for the iron spirits to reveal their true faces. The master carvers of wood and stone often say things like that, right? They believe that "the sculpture is already inside the wood (or stone) from the beginning," whether ordinary people understand it or not. Was that possible with iron as well? I guess it was.
"I want people to know that such creatures exist, that such a realm exists in the universe."
I can't recall if Bori said exactly this, but it's noted in my notebook, suggesting he did. I find myself in agreement with this notion. The universe is simply too vast to doubt that, beyond carbon-based organisms like us, there are iron-based entities with their own consciousness, or something akin to it. (AI is on the verge of becoming silicon-based one, after all.)
To sum it all up and as a hypothesis, below can be an appropriate answer:
Bori's irons hail from the 'Fantasy Realm' one artist has found after his long journey marked by pain, agony, and an assortment of experiences—both positive and negative, complex and enigmatic we never know.
How about that?
Amidst numerous uncertainties and enigmas, one thing I can state with certainty:
Bori Kiyonori is a gentle soul.
As the very architect and custodian of a fantastical realm, possessing such a trait is not only essential but also natural, especially after a journey through darkness.
Going For More
"Bloom" refers to one of the initial masses of iron produced at an iron mill, typically measuring around 35 cm x 40 cm x 120 cm and weighing approximately 1.5 tons. It is freshly extracted and raw iron, utilized in the production of various products. Bori's comeback creations, known as "Tetsu-Gu" or "Iron Figurines," are crafted from these blooms. The one photographed below consists of two parts stacked up, weighing a total of three tons. Another set, located further below, consists of four parts, including a bomb, weighs more than six tons. They are crafted using a 2000-ton forging machine, a large industrial machinery as seen here in the top right corner.
Bori himself doesn't handle this process. Professional (and sometimes licensed) iron technicians work on it. As the red-hot solid iron mass is pressed in the machine, fiery splashes emanate, creating a captivating sight (as I observed only in the video), eliciting an instinctual response of putting one's palms together in fear, reverence, or something more… primal, primitive, and prehistoric.
It takes a 500-ton forging machine just to shape fist-sized "Tetsu-Gu" pieces. It still is a substantial industrial machine, comparable in size to a house.
As mentioned earlier, it also requires experienced technicians to manage his creative process, and it is not something ordinary people can request. The holes, grooves, and creases in his works are the outcomes of his meticulous planning but are ultimately created 'accidentally' in the end.
Accidentality — I've been repeating this word. Here, you might grasp Bori's philosophy fully in my words.
Without mimicking Western 'Abstract Art' or expressing personal opinions as the 'Self,' creating something by delving deep into the essence of your 'existence,' leaving control to the principles of the Universe, and resulting in 'never-seen-before' pieces, gut-wrenching and thought-provoking ones, they become Art; that might be the answer and approach he has reached. (Apologies for the messy description.)
Praying ― He may have discovered the method or secret of invoking "Accidentality" into his creations, and that is through prayer.
Awareness ― It could be described better with this word. Because in my understanding, awareness or enlightenment is more like surrendering oneself to something bigger than you and being in tune with the Universe.
Let Him Go Even Further
I hope you've grasped the essence of the artist's journey to some extent by now. I wouldn't feel discouraged if you haven't, as I've tried my best to put it into words as much as possible.
The German philosopher Wilhelm Humboldt once remarked:
"There is only one summit in life – to have taken the measure in feeling of everything human."
Well said. It's a sentiment I've taken to heart. However, it's the 'artists' who consistently push the boundaries further.
"If the world consisted only of what the eye could see, how impoverished would it be!"
Do you know whose quote this is? I believe he was a poet, if I'm not mistaken.
Anyways, in addition to the small-sized pieces, I hope that Bori receives more requests for his monumental creations. I'm curious to witness what emerges from the Fantasy Iron Realm. Whatever it may be, it lies beyond my box, and yours.
Hot Under The Sun, Cold In The Wind
You may conclude it now, but I'd like to add my own thought as a short closing chapter, for this is my personal writing indeed, and it is what I wanted to write most, hence it is going to be somewhat absurd.
Empath ― would be the keyword.
At the very beginning, I mentioned a scene from Hungary in the 1990s that might have something in common with Bori's work:
Dozens of Lenin statues gathered in the country side field.
When the country was democratized, one of the first acts was the removal of communist symbols, including red stars and the Lenin statues. I vividly recall stumbling upon these dignified bronze sculptures, corralled within flimsy wooden fences like common farm animals under the sun.
I thought it was art, but I was so young and immature that I couldn't fully grasp what I was feeling. I stood there for perhaps an hour, contemplating, while sharing the same sun with the statues.
What would you feel in such a scenario?
Ridiculous? Sarcasm? Sorrow? Triumph? Defeat? Transition? Instability? Anxiety and fear that never vanish?
Now, just two words would be enough to explain why Bori's works reminded me of that scene:
Accidentality and Empathy
The scene was made accidentally, and perhaps, like Bori's creations, it also had a sense of scraps.
Though I haven't explicitly mentioned 'empathy' in this writing, Bori's art demands the ability to understand others.
Both "Lenins in the Field" and Bori's sculptures have the raison d'être of the time – or so I felt when encountering them. And I might not be completely wrong.
What I am trying to say is ― in this time of technological leaps led by AI and biogenetics, where the future is uncertain even in a decade, perhaps the most important question we are facing is,
What is human?
Amidst the tangled discussions, a human trait,
Compassion
is emerging as the key, and it is derived from,
Empathy
I reckon. Bori's creations offered me a chance to ponder the essence of compassion. Holding the weighty, solid iron in my hand, it somehow transported me back to a memory from my childhood:
Hot under the sun, cold in the wind
And when it suddenly falls
All shouting happily
My elder brother, sister, and I
Ran to the trees for shelter
Well, that's all. Thank you very much for reading. I hope you enjoyed it. Have a good one!
MAZKIYO
PS Bori has an exhibit shack by his cafe in the mountain. You might want to visit him and his creations there.
Contact:
Sleepy Cafe NICO
1658-2 Hei, Kama-city, Fukuoka, JAPAN
Tel: 0948-52-6303
E-mail: sleepy.cafe.nico@gmail.com
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➡ Why is it industrial?: Forging Bori's Way
©2024 Kiyo “MAZKIYO” Matsumoto All international rights reserved.
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