For the past two months the art department has played host to Hironari Kobuta, a Japanese artist who travels around the globe giving performances by spinning a car on an A-frame. To accomplish this feat he uses a system of pulleys and levers attached to an engine.

He says that the performance represents a ritual performed by his village back in Japan.

(The subtitles of this interview are paraphrased from the English translation provided by Seguru Hiraide, an associate professor of art an associate professor of art.)

Although Kobuta traditionally uses a Honda in his performances according to Hiraide, Kobuta decided to use a Chevy donated by a student in the art department to commemorate his first performance in Texas.

“One of my sculpture major students, she told me that her grandmother owned this 1949 Chevy Deluxe. [It was] just sitting on her grandmother’s property for a long time. Over 40-years so we decided to go pick it up, ” Seguru Hiraide says.

Students and faculty from both Midwestern and other Universities gathered to watch this performance. Although creating the art took weeks the performance only lasted about 10 minutes. However students say all the hard work paid off during the show.

“Eight out of 10. Yeah this was really fun. I liked it because it left me wanting more which makes me ask questions. I like to view a piece of artwork and to develop a relationship with it as I continue to learn from it and ask questions about it,” Jason Bennett, University of Texas at Tyler student says.

For information on the Texas Sculpture Symposium, CLICK HERE.