Seems a little fishy to me

I constantly see signs for events around town.  I often take a photo of the sign to show my husband, who then finds out additional information for me (unless it is in English, because then I can do it myself).  Since there is always something going on, there is just too much to remember.

In early July I saw an advertisement for an art exhibit, Eco Edo Art Aquarium.  The photos were intriguing and I quickly put the event on my "things I'd like to do" list.  As you can imagine, that list is LONG!

Since my son's summer vacation is wrapping up this week, I really wanted to go out with a bang.  I thought this art exhibit would be fun for him and memorable. 

After a bit of research, I learned this annual exhibit was celebrating it's tenth year.  There were several new pieces each year.  But it is extremely popular.  Everything I read said to avoid weekends, or expect a wait as they limit the number of people allowed into the exhibit at any one time.  That is not my idea of fun, as I am getting more and more tired of the crowds in Tokyo.  At least people are polite.  But, I'm still ready to have elbow room once in a while.

My son's school was open for pool play time today from 10:10 until 11:40.  He got to see his teacher, play with some classmates, and swim for an hour and a half while I relaxed at home.  After lunch, we headed over to Nihonbashi to see the exhibit.

We bought tickets on the 4th floor of the building and then headed up to the 5th floor to see the exhibit.  There were lots of people, but I wouldn't say it was crowded.  Just as I expected on a Thursday afternoon. 

The exhibit is dark.  The walls, floor, and ceiling are painted black.  But it doesn't matter, because all you can focus on are the lit up tanks placed all over the room filled with goldfish and koi.  As I walked into the room I stopped short.  My eyes took a minute to take the room in and process. 

The huge acrylic tanks were in various shapes, including a globe with etched countries, polyhedrons, and stacks of triangles. 

To keep things interesting, the lights shining on the tanks kept changing colors every so often.  The fish seemed to change color as the lights transitioned from one color to the next, which was really neat. 

There is no way for me to pick a favorite piece.  There were so many interesting things to see. 

The "live" screen was incredible. 

As were the various bowls of fish.  The fish were so interesting in these bowls.  And the bowls were artwork themselves - Edo-kiriko (a type of cut glass from Japan) and Kutani porcelain (multicolored over glazed ceramics). 

The tank with the prisms was so much fun. 

If you want to see more images from the event, here is the official video.

Honestly, it was exactly what I expected from a modern Japanese art instillation.  Simple, yet stunning.  Intertwining the natural with modern materials.  Bold colors that grabbed your attention, but were not overused.  And simply stunning.