Installation view of the exhibition "天の虫 (Celestial flightless moth)"
Tue. 16 Mar, 2021 - Sun. 28 Mar, 2021
SETAGAYA ART MUSEUM (Prize show of SETAGAYA ART AWARD)
Tue. 16 Mar, 2021 - Sun. 28 Mar, 2021
SETAGAYA ART MUSEUM (Prize show of SETAGAYA ART AWARD)
Photo: HAYATO WAKABAYASHI
Translated by Gaetan kubo using DL
Translated by Gaetan kubo using DL
「宇宙 日本 世田谷 ぼく 蚕 ウィルス」
I am writing this text at home for the next exhibition, following the call for self-restraint due to the declaration of a state of emergency. What action should art take in the face of the call for the unnecessary and the urgent? Art may be non-urgent, but it is a fundamental imagination that is necessary for human beings to be human, and its activities should not be stopped. But is it really the right thing to do in this situation to go to the studio? I decided to continue working from what I could do at home. Looking at an old map, there are many mulberry fields in the area of the museum where the exhibition venue is located, and the nearby statue of Princess Konjikihime enshrined at Kitami Fudo, it can be assumed that sericulture was an important part of this area. A large number of beckoning cats are enshrined at the nearby Gotoku-ji Temple. The beckoning cats here do not carry koban(coin). This is due to the legend that a cat in Gotokuji protected II Naotaka from lightning strikes, but originally beckoning cats without koban(coin) were often regarded as lucky charms to protect sericulture.
In the past, sericulture was a very natural activity for Japanese farmers at home, and it fed the modernisation of Japan. What an experience it must have been to experience the loss of this activity here, and indeed throughout Japan. While I was restricted from leaving the house, I decided to start keeping silkworms in the house. Originally, when the larvae pupate, the cocoons are boiled to make thread. However, I could not boil live pupae. The silkworm moths that I raised to adulthood gave birth to the next life. The farmer who gave me the silkworms told me that the second generation would not grow well and that I should throw away the eggs even if they laid eggs, but I decided to raise them. Although they thought they were raised in a similar environment, they developed a viral disease and most of the silkworms died at the larval stage. I was reminded of how fragile these creatures are, artificially created by humans in defiance of nature. While the world was reporting on the development of a vaccine for the new coronavirus and the start of inoculation, I learnt that a new type of coronavirus vaccine was being developed that was obtained by melting silkworms and ingesting spike proteins. As the vaccine scramble contributes to the division of the world, this tiny creature could be the one to save humanity. Newton's scholarship allowed him to escape the ravages of the plague and to contemplate freely in his hometown, a 'the prime of my age for invention' that led to his later 'three major achievements'. Let us observe the creature for the day when we can create sparingly again.
6th Feb. 2021 at Home
全ての贈り物 | Pandōrā (all-gifted)
2021
ビデオ
Video
2021
ビデオ
Video
The film begins with the observation of silkworm larvae, which were given to her by a silkworm farmer. The film examines where the creature was derived from the memory of the silkworms raised in primary school when she was a child. When the larvae transform into pupae, the film changes completely and switches to the myth of the origin of sericulture in Japan. The legend of Princess Konjikihime, the birth of the silkworm, tells of a princess who drifted to Japan from Jersey (India) in a round wooden boat made of mulberry trees, washed ashore on the coast of Hitachi, and the insects that sprang from her carcass ate the boat. The legend is said to have been the origin of the 'Utsurofune Incident', which is said to have occurred in 1803, and the discussion leads to the modernisation of Japan. Through nishikie (nishiki-e), the film examines the decline of sericulture, which became the capital of a wealthy nation and strong military, with the advent of nylon. While sericulture, once a symbol of Japan, is now being developed as genetic engineering, the story continues with research into the silkworm becoming a corona vaccine. Since baculoviruses, one of the most dangerous viruses for silkworms, can produce spike proteins that serve as antibodies to new coronaviruses, baculoviruses are inserted into silkworms, which are then infected to obtain the target proteins. The fact that the baculovirus only infects arthropods and is therefore harmless to humans, and the fact that humans are the ones who cannot survive without destroying/exploiting and expanding the virgin lands of the earth, raises the question of who defines the 'virus' and who it is for. The film questions the sameness of all things when the subjectivity changes. The film changes again and begins with the chrysalis hatching. When the adult insect lays its eggs, the image changes to a harayadori, where a floating boat has drifted ashore. What was in the box that the woman on the boat was carrying? According to the prediction of the time written on the tawaraban, it was the head of a man who had an affair, but if we follow the hypothesis that the legend of the Golden Princess was based on, it could be a silkworm (or something related to silkworms). When the box, which returned to the sea without being opened, washes ashore again, what will emerge from inside it? Will it be "all the gifts" (misery and hope) that were contained in Pandora's Box? The film ends with the box containing the cocoons, the five grains and the images being floated out to sea, while we contemplate the contents of the box.
Cuts from the video
ボンフィン (美しい結末) | Bonfim (Beautiful end)
2021
招き猫、生糸
Maneki-neko(A lucky charm of beckoning cat), Silk
2021
招き猫、生糸
Maneki-neko(A lucky charm of beckoning cat), Silk
Have you ever had a sudden craving for Japanese food while abroad, and when you went to a Chinese-owned restaurant to look for something similar, you were surprised to see a beckoning cat at the entrance? You may have felt a sense of familiarity with the Japanese motifs you suddenly saw, but at the same time felt uncomfortable with the design, which was slightly different from that of Japanese beckoning cats. Today, the beckoning cat can be found all over the world, but while its origins are believed to be Japanese, there are several theories as to its origin, and it is not clear which one is correct.
Of the various theories, the most popular is that the beckoning cat originated at Gotokuji Temple, about 3 km northeast of the museum, but the beckoning cat here does not carry a koban. This comes from a legend that a cat beckoned Ii Naotaka, a visitor to Gotoku-ji, and protected him from a lightning strike, and that he began to enshrine Kannon Bosatsu, a deity associated with the beckoning cat. However, considering that 'cat' came from China with the role of preventing damage from rats, in connection with the introduction of Buddhism, and that 'cat ornaments' were enshrined as lucky charms to protect sericulture, starting with Fushimi Inari Taisha and other shrines, it is possible that the reason for their spread as 'ornaments' was the unconscious belief in sericulture among the farming families that were the majority in Japan. It is likely that this was the case.
Of the various theories, the most popular is that the beckoning cat originated at Gotokuji Temple, about 3 km northeast of the museum, but the beckoning cat here does not carry a koban. This comes from a legend that a cat beckoned Ii Naotaka, a visitor to Gotoku-ji, and protected him from a lightning strike, and that he began to enshrine Kannon Bosatsu, a deity associated with the beckoning cat. However, considering that 'cat' came from China with the role of preventing damage from rats, in connection with the introduction of Buddhism, and that 'cat ornaments' were enshrined as lucky charms to protect sericulture, starting with Fushimi Inari Taisha and other shrines, it is possible that the reason for their spread as 'ornaments' was the unconscious belief in sericulture among the farming families that were the majority in Japan. It is likely that this was the case.
In this work, raw silk is wrapped around a row of beckoning cats in six different sizes. Just as the silkworm metamorphoses into a pupa by repeatedly moulting four times, and then into an adult, these beckoning cats are covered with an outer skin of raw silk and stop at the fifth pupal stage. At a time when the development of a new coronavirus vaccine was beginning to attract attention and the two sides were divided by friction between the intake and sceptic groups, I learned that a vaccine was being developed using spike proteins produced by silkworms. Silkworms are man-made organisms created by humans through the domestication of wild animals by breeding. When these creatures are injected into our bodies and updated as antibodies, what will they bring to the future of humans? When the threads wrapped around this beckoning cat are untied, we may know the answer.
*Bonfin is the name of the church where the knitted 'misanga' originated, which is believed to grant wishes when the thread breaks, and means 'beautiful ending' in Portuguese. Curiously, it is said to have originated around the 17th century, like the beckoning cat at Gotokuji, but there are two theories, one Portuguese and one Brazilian, and the place of origin here is also unclear. As with the dedication of the beckoning cat after a wish has been fulfilled, there is also a tradition of people going to church to tie a misanga to a church where their wish has been fulfilled.
おまじない | The magic word
2021
ジャコウネコの糞が入った缶
A canister of droppings of civet cat
2021
ジャコウネコの糞が入った缶
A canister of droppings of civet cat
It could be a painting of a soup can, an overturned crab can, or a can containing 30g of the artist's faeces. When cans are dealt with in contemporary art, trouble seems to follow.
Research into the origins of the new coronavirus has led to the theory that the first natural host to harbour the virus may have been the Kikugasa bats of Yunnan Province. However, in order for the virus to infect humans in Wuhan, it is believed that there must be an intermediate host that preys on bats or comes into contact with bat faeces and urine, and the muskox, which was also considered the intermediate host of SARS, has been identified as a strong candidate for such an organism.
Wild muskoxes select good quality coffee plants from the wild and eat them. Kopi Ruak, an Indonesian coffee bean, made from coffee cherries taken from faeces expelled due to indigestion. It is said that while the Dutch colonial policy led to the cultivation of coffee trees that did not grow wild, the locals could not drink it because it was too expensive, so they started roasting it from the faeces.
Research into the origins of the new coronavirus has led to the theory that the first natural host to harbour the virus may have been the Kikugasa bats of Yunnan Province. However, in order for the virus to infect humans in Wuhan, it is believed that there must be an intermediate host that preys on bats or comes into contact with bat faeces and urine, and the muskox, which was also considered the intermediate host of SARS, has been identified as a strong candidate for such an organism.
Wild muskoxes select good quality coffee plants from the wild and eat them. Kopi Ruak, an Indonesian coffee bean, made from coffee cherries taken from faeces expelled due to indigestion. It is said that while the Dutch colonial policy led to the cultivation of coffee trees that did not grow wild, the locals could not drink it because it was too expensive, so they started roasting it from the faeces.
Despite its origins, it is now one of the most expensive coffee beans in the world due to its rarity. As a result, artificial coffee cherries fed to captive civets have become available, and every bean is now labelled with "100%" or "genuine", making it difficult to judge its value or content.
On a different note, in my favourite film, Kamome Diner, there is a spell called Kopi Ruak. The main character, who runs a Japanese restaurant in Finland, is visited by a man who used to run a restaurant there. He says that by chanting "Kopi Ruak" at the coffee beans, the coffee will taste even better. The beans are not kopi luak, and the abruptness of this development makes it troublesome to ask what it means, but when I make a cup of coffee, I say the word. I guess that's what they call a spell.
On a different note, in my favourite film, Kamome Diner, there is a spell called Kopi Ruak. The main character, who runs a Japanese restaurant in Finland, is visited by a man who used to run a restaurant there. He says that by chanting "Kopi Ruak" at the coffee beans, the coffee will taste even better. The beans are not kopi luak, and the abruptness of this development makes it troublesome to ask what it means, but when I make a cup of coffee, I say the word. I guess that's what they call a spell.
あそびのディスタンス | Playful distance
2021 (work with Satomi KUBO)
映像、ぬりえ
video, coloring picture
2021 (work with Satomi KUBO)
映像、ぬりえ
video, coloring picture
In response to requests for voluntary curfew during the state of emergency, playground equipment in Tokyo parks was covered with improvised tape. These measures were taken in the midst of the confusion caused by the emergency and the prevention of the spread of infection, so they were improvised and would have driven bondage masters mad. On the other hand, the arrangements, which did not look like bureaucratic work, showed a somewhat organic individuality, and if Mr and Mrs Christo had been able to see them, they would have found them very interesting. The ropes were soon removed, but were replaced throughout the park by tarpaulins with the slogan 'Let's get out and play', creating a strange playing distance with children being instructed to follow the instructions.
The image on the left shows a photograph of the tied-up playground equipment, while the print on the right shows a desaturated photo of the equipment. As the museum is located in the largest park in terms of site area in Setagaya Ward, the plan was to hang drawings on the playground equipment on the walls for the visiting children who were forbidden to use the equipment. However, due to guidelines to prevent the spread of infection, permission to use writing materials was not granted, and the artwork, like the prohibited park equipment, became untouchable.
The image on the left shows a photograph of the tied-up playground equipment, while the print on the right shows a desaturated photo of the equipment. As the museum is located in the largest park in terms of site area in Setagaya Ward, the plan was to hang drawings on the playground equipment on the walls for the visiting children who were forbidden to use the equipment. However, due to guidelines to prevent the spread of infection, permission to use writing materials was not granted, and the artwork, like the prohibited park equipment, became untouchable.
関連過去作品：「」
2007 (大学1年時進級展)
ガラス(180cm x 180cm)、ウール、鉄、木 glass(180cm x 180cm), wool, metal, wood
2007 (大学1年時進級展)
ガラス(180cm x 180cm)、ウール、鉄、木 glass(180cm x 180cm), wool, metal, wood
