A head full of hot air

December 31, 2014 12:05 PM

The Utsunomiya Museum of Art museum in Japan recently created a gigantic balloon shaped like middle-aged man's head and launched it into the sky as part of an effort to bring art into public spaces. You can view the project's website here and see more pictures of the project here.
posted by codacorolla (14 comments total)

Cool.

Hai sai Ojisan!
posted by idiopath at 12:08 PM on December 31, 2014 [1 favorite]

Well, fortunately there is no horrifying precedent for this in the absolutely terrifying comics of Junji Ito.

OH CRAP.
posted by maxsparber at 12:11 PM on December 31, 2014 [10 favorites]

THE GUN IS GOOD. THE PENIS IS EVIL.
posted by asterix at 12:14 PM on December 31, 2014 [4 favorites]

I love it, but it must be utterly surreal for the guy whose actual face they used.
posted by Faint of Butt at 12:15 PM on December 31, 2014 [2 favorites]

Nice try, Japan. But I refuse to believe in your inflatable man in the sky.
posted by Atom Eyes at 12:18 PM on December 31, 2014 [1 favorite]

Well, fortunately there is no horrifying precedent for this in the absolutely terrifying comics of Junji Ito.

OH CRAP.

argh

argghhh
posted by curious nu at 12:26 PM on December 31, 2014

On the ground, it seems very Monty Python.
posted by Oyéah at 12:36 PM on December 31, 2014 [2 favorites]

I've been to Utsunomiya, it's right next to Nikko. That is a weird place. When my friend and I drove back from Nikko, it was really windy. We got back to Tokyo and there was a big news report about a small tornado hitting an outdoor playground in Utsunomiya, lifting some kids into the air a few feet, then it suddenly subsided and dropped them without any major injuries. The tornado struck about 15 minutes after we were driving past that exact spot.

That project is great. It has lots of symbolic resonance. It kind of reminds me of a daruma. And they illuminated it at night so it was like a big golden moon, it looks hilarious.

There is a long history of flying huge Japanese kites with faces of gods or heroes, here's an old ukiyo-e print by Kuniyoshi, showing a modest size kite from about 1848. And these kites can be really enormous. So in a place like Nikko, I'd expect to see some big symbol of Tokugawa Ieyasu or something not just heroic, but monumental. But this balloon isn't some hero, except in the sense that you want to make an anonymous ojisan into a hero.
posted by charlie don't surf at 12:47 PM on December 31, 2014 [7 favorites]

ojisan is watching you masturbate.
posted by Nelson at 1:48 PM on December 31, 2014 [3 favorites]

The All Seeing All Knowing All Father is Watching You, and He Thinks You Are Kind of Boring. He Asks that You Do Something Interesting For A Change. Maybe Go Out With Some Friends, Or Catch a Show.

So It Is Commanded, So it Really Should Be Done!
posted by quin at 6:01 PM on December 31, 2014

I love the balloon's placid expression. I think that's what makes it surreal instead of creepy.
posted by ThatFuzzyBastard at 6:08 AM on January 1, 2015

Every town needs one of these...before the car dealers find out about it. That said, I'm off to the shop to see if I can wrangle up a likeness of Cal Worthington. There's gold up in them thar hills!
posted by Ogre Lawless at 8:07 AM on January 1, 2015

Well, fortunately there is no horrifying precedent for this in the absolutely terrifying comics of Junji Ito.

That's a great creepy concept that works really well -- and only -- in comic land. You could do it in CGI but not without being some kind of gonzo. I'm reminded of some of the others that have passed through here...
posted by Ogre Lawless at 8:17 AM on January 1, 2015

I was just thinking, the night pictures of the illuminated ojisan balloon remind me of the traditional Nebuta Festival floats.
posted by charlie don't surf at 11:02 PM on January 2, 2015