PREFACE

Golf is visible everywher in the dense urban fabric in Japan. The great metal frames covered with green netting can be seen from any point, and are easily recognisable by their different scale in comparison with the city around them, where they compete for the limited space available. With the bubble
economy of the eighties, all kinds of driving ranges appaeared. The hybrid mixture with functions not necessarily related to golf often forms part of a strategy to make economic use of the space. Golf originally reached Japan from the West in 1914, the year the first club was founded. This is a sport with major - and perfectly defined - spatial demands, that has had to adapt to the density of a metropolis such as Tokyo. However, rather than following a strategy of spatial scaling, as in mini-golf, the Japanese have horizontally and vertically multiplied the simple act of striking the ball. The player does not move from an area of four sqaure metres, in which all of the functional aspects of the game are concentrated. The balls are automatically returned and deposited in front of the player. Playing a game of golf is reduced to the acto of hitting the ball. Nevertheless, these driving ranges provide an experience that is closer to the reality of golf than mini-golf is. The social aspects associated with the game are sometimes more important than the physical exercise itself. Playing golf has a symbolic component, just as the use of a certain set of equipment and wearing a certain kind of clothing represents a Western lifestyle.

CONCEPT

The installation developed for the SUBURBAN HAPPINESS exhibition within the TOKYO DESIGNER´S BLOCK 2003 explains the spatial concept of golf with a high level of personal interaction. By hitting a small board in the mini-golf like setting, which is connected to an info-transmitter, the story of golf can be revealed step by step. The activity of playing golf forms the basis for integrating the visitor into the art-space-setting.

FURTHER DETAILS

SUBURBAN HAPPINESS WEBSITE

FUNCTION 
Art Installation                   

STATUS 
Constructed 2003                                               

CONSTRUCTIVE SYSTEM
Timber, Temporary Materials, Multimedia tools                         

EMAIL

(C) Kurt Handlbauer, 2006