{"id":3856,"date":"2026-01-08T09:44:55","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T16:44:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=3856"},"modified":"2026-01-08T09:44:55","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T16:44:55","slug":"step-into-a-uniquely-cavernous-house-installation-by-japanese-art-collective-%e7%9b%ae","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=3856","title":{"rendered":"Step Into a Uniquely Cavernous House Installation by Japanese Art Collective \u76ee"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thisiscolossal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/me-space-ii-1-e1767891031803.jpeg\" alt=\"Step Into a Uniquely Cavernous House Installation by Japanese Art Collective \u76ee\" \/><\/p>\n<p>In an otherwise unassuming neighborhood in Beppu, \u014cita Prefecture, Japan, a modest residence has undergone an unusual transformation. Thanks to <a href=\"https:\/\/mouthplustwo.me\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Japenese art collective \u76ee<\/a>, the two-story private home has been hollowed out, in a sense, to create a literal cavern.<\/p>\n<p>\u76ee translates to \u201ceye\u201d and is pronounced \u201cm\u00e9,\u201d and the group comprises artist Haruka Kojin, director Kenji Minamigawa, and installer Hirofumi Masui. The trio\u2019s focus revolves around conceiving works that encourage new ways of seeing the world as it constantly changes and evolves before us. Often playing with perception, pieces have included <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thisiscolossal.com\/2019\/03\/contact-mori-art-museum\/\">ocean swells<\/a> that appear frozen in time and space and giant <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thisiscolossal.com\/2021\/07\/me-face-balloon-japan\/\">balloons of people\u2019s faces<\/a> that float above urban centers.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2556\" height=\"998\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thisiscolossal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/me-space-ii-5.jpeg\" alt=\"A detail of an art installation comprising a small house with holes in it that open to what looks like a cave on the inside\" class=\"wp-image-467882\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cSpace II\u201d sits in a residential neighborhood of a city renowned for its natural hot springs, known as <em>onsen, <\/em>which attract visitors to local resorts. Tapping into the geological and geothermal character of the area, \u76ee has created an otherworldly installation resembling a cave reminiscent of tourist attractions with metal steps and railings. Gaping holes in the exterior make it appear as if the structure was carved from rock to look like a house rather than the other way around.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSpace II\u201d is a continuation of a theme begun with a piece called \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/mouthplustwo.me\/work_07.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Space<\/a>\u201d in 2020, in which \u76ee constructed a narrow, contemporary exhibition space in the second story of an otherwise typical home in the city of Aomori. Visitors will be able to step inside of \u201cSpace II,\u201d with reservations slated to open on <a href=\"https:\/\/mouthplustwo.me\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u76ee\u2019s website<\/a> later this month. Follow updates on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/mouthplustwo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thisiscolossal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/me-space-ii-2.jpeg\" alt=\"An interior view of an installation comprising a small house that looks like a cave on the inside\" class=\"wp-image-467879\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2314\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thisiscolossal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/me-space-ii-6.jpeg\" alt=\"A detail of an art installation comprising a small house with holes in it that open to what looks like a cave on the inside\" class=\"wp-image-467883\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thisiscolossal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/me-space-ii-7.jpeg\" alt=\"An interior view of an installation comprising a small house that looks like a cave on the inside\" class=\"wp-image-467884\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2667\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thisiscolossal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/me-space-ii-8.jpeg\" alt=\"A detail of an art installation comprising a black staircase leading into an upper level of a small house with holes in it that open to what looks like a cave on the inside\" class=\"wp-image-467877\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2046\" height=\"1487\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thisiscolossal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/me-space-ii-3.jpeg\" alt=\"An interior view of an installation comprising a small house that looks like a cave on the inside\" class=\"wp-image-467880\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thisiscolossal.com\/members\">Colossal Member<\/a> today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thisiscolossal.com\/2026\/01\/%E7%9B%AE-me-space-ii-house-cave-art-installation\/\">Step Into a Uniquely Cavernous House Installation by Japanese Art Collective \u76ee<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thisiscolossal.com\/\">Colossal<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In an otherwise unassuming neighborhood in Beppu, \u014cita Prefecture, Japan, a modest residence has undergone an unusual transformation. Thanks to Japenese art collective \u76ee, the two-story private home has been&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3856"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3856\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}