The ancient city of Beppu, on the volcanic Japanese island of Kyushu, has long been shaped by its geothermal activity—people from all over the world flock here for its renowned hot springs (onsen). Declared the “most geothermal city in the world” (and nicknamed “hell” according to local legend), this intriguing site has inspired the art collective 目[mé], which has been working in Japan for about fifteen years. 目[mé] likes to take over a space, distorting its history and meaning to create a new experience. In Beppu, 目[mé] has taken over a house and transformed it into a cave, as if time and the local temperature had naturally eroded it. This is Space II, the latest creation from this playful collective.
A disruptive artistic approach
Haruka Kojin (artist), Kenji Minamigawa (director), and Hirofumi Masui (production manager) are the founding trio of 目[mé] (which means “eye” in Japanese). Their approach? “To create works that allow us to relive the ‘world as it is’ that constantly unfolds before our eyes,” they explain on their website. This rather mysterious intention has nonetheless led the Japanese collective, created in 2013, to exhibit at the Japan Society in New York and the Centre Pompidou-Metz, which have presented several of their installations. Japanese private homes seem to be a favorite disruptive space for the artists, who have previously integrated an extremely minimalist art gallery into a dilapidated house on another Japanese island in 2020. Other notable works include giant inflatable faces installed above natural landscapes and the recreation of monumental waves.
A new commentary on geology
A few months ago, this Beppu town house was quite unremarkable: A classic white structure with a pitched tile roof, in a residential neighborhood of the Ōita Prefecture. For several weeks now (the project opened early January 2026) this dwelling has garnered considerable attention from the city’s 100,000 inhabitants and beyond. 目[mé] has transformed it into a kind of giant cavern, its gaping holes visible from the outside. Rather than adding elements to the existing structure, the collective chose to remove material from it. By excavating, the artists created a veritable grotto, its volcanic appearance admirably reproduced thanks to the irregularities of the material. The aim: to blur sensory perceptions and the boundaries between inside and outside, architecture and nature, emptiness and fullness.
A multi-sensory experience
From a distance, the house appears to have been destroyed by a volcanic eruption, or built around a rock formation. Once inside via the exterior staircase, a ramp guides visitors through the excavated galleries, helping them navigate the darkness of the cavern. The experience is unsettling, and directly echoes the site’s geological characteristics. The soil upon which this home rests upon holds a (now dormant) volcanic history spanning millennia—hence the legend of an “infernal” underground, here brought into the light of day. The artwork may also prompt reflection on the origins of our civilization, whose traces have been primarily found in caves. Just two weeks ago, Australian and Indonesian archaeologists discovered the oldest known human painting; dating back some 70,000 years, it is believed to have belonged to the earliest inhabitants of Australia. Space II reminds us that caves are where we used to reside—and that they’re not too different from today’s homes.
Visitors are able to step inside of “Space II.” Follow updates on the collective’s Instagram.
This art project, inspired by the volcanic Japanese island it sits upon, was originally published in AD France.
