[Art work to reveal people's real intention]
A silver metal spherical object with lots of spines all around was appeared beside Statue of Moyai at Shibuya Station in Tokyo. You would find lots of cigarette butts stuck to it when you got near. People who were smoking while waiting for their company extinguished their cigarettes with it. Is it an ashtray?
It was a piece of contemporary art work, titled "Ike-moku Project", which was named after Ike-bana (Japanese flower arrangement) as people were led to put a cigarette butt into spines of the object as do flower to a frog. The artist, Masuyama, was watching how people reacted to it near the object. When a person put a cigarette into it, he would approach to the person and asked to take him a photograph of him/her holding a package of the cigarette. The whole sequence was also taken to the video. They are to be shown at his exhibition that starts from 9th March.
How come people tried to put the butt into it? Masuyama said, "Many people come here and wait to meet the company, but there is no ashtray. As people feel uncomfortable to throw the butt to the street, they will use this object as an ashtray. I am doing this because I find interesting to infect the action of the others."
Some dummy cigarettes are originally stuck to the object. When the first person find it and understand it as an ashtray, people use it in the same way by turns. Even a cleaner approached and tried to take all the butts away. Masuyama had to explain what he was doing. It is adjusted to the surroundings well to that extent.

(On The Tokyo Shimbun, 9th March 2002)