REGENERATIVE CIRCLE

From mid-October, it will also be exhibited in Tokyo at the Mori Art Museum exhibition "Our Ecology: To Live on Planet Earth." In that piece, seawater runs down a thread and drips into rock salt, which gradually dissolves. The hundreds of millions of hours trapped in the salt dissolve simultaneously and crystallize with the present time. This work is about connecting various time axes together.

This place used to be a warehouse, and it was a mess when I first visited it. But after almost a year of hard work, it finally looks alright. Electrical wiring work is still being done, though. It's tough to work under the hot sun... Please let me know if you can't stand the heat. There are ways to cool yourself down without using air conditioning.

I'm sure I could actually find an easier way to do it, but this morning, it was the only way I could imagine.

I saw your car and I thought it might be you, but you guys just kept going.

It’s a similar approach to the way I pumped seawater this morning. Of course, it would be much easier to use heavy machinery. But if I did, I would probably not experience anything but the convenience of something being quickly done. I wanted to get closer to the sea and the soil to observe them, just as if I was looking through a microscope. Heavy machinery, and the huge amount of energy that they use, might make you lose sight of the details.

I don't think of it as "taking time and effort.'' When we encounter other ecosystems and substances, unless we face them with the same energy, we may not be able to understand them and they may not speak to us.

Getting my hands dirty to make my own things is what defines me as an artist.

A few days ago, I was re-dyeing my work clothes with indigo. Indigo is extracted from plant leaves, and the moment my fingertips were covered with indigo, I felt a little closer to nature. Touching the soil with dye on my hands felt stronger than with clean hands. I could see the link between my body and nature. It is the most exciting realization I have had recently.

I have a habit of collecting things. I collect crystals, stones, soil samples… Not precious things, but things that have captured time.

Soil samples are rather easy to find, so I go around and pick them up. My work "Noyaki" is made by mixing soil collected from various places and baking them in an open fire.

There are about four types of soil mixed together. Since it’s made of clay, I used soil from Hokkaido, where the strata of the Jomon period rose to ground level, as a base. Then, I added soil from the field in Ishinomaki, as well as crushed ore, collected at the Annapurna mountain base camp in Nepal, which I climbed this year. Lastly, I added soil collected in front of the Watari Museum in Tokyo.

Because they are connected. The oceans are connected, and so is the land. We tend to draw a line between them, like a border, and see them as separate things, but they are essentially connected. I created this work hoping to bring them together again.

Considering the fact that petroleum products will no longer be available in the near future, we will have to rely on products derived from nature, such as wool and cotton. Under such circumstances, I thought that "products made by humans for humans" such as Brewed Protein™ products had tremendous potential. Moreover, if we pursue this kind of manufacturing, it becomes a matter of "creating and returning to nothing." I feel that this is a new concept that goes beyond the ideas of reusing and recycling.

Whether it’s made artificially or naturally, I don't think there is anything in the world that was made quickly. I believe that the existence of every single thing is the result of some intention. And personally, I tend to prefer things that required a lot of time and effort to be made.

I used to think of cities as man-made, but even concrete is made from natural materials. I think it’s is a fine line between artificial and natural. Recently, I have come to think that trying to distance ourselves from nature, or control it, may be “artificial.”

I walk with my head down more than most people! I'm always looking for something. I have Ainu friends in Hokkaido, and even when driving their car at 60 or 70 km/h, they can recognize wild vegetables from their fleeting silhouette. In my case, it's soil or minerals.

I’m just very curious, and constantly wonder about things around me… Naturally, in the back of my mind, I always think about whether this or that could be used for my work. But the reason I started collecting soil was because I found quartz in it and thought it was very beautiful. As I researched about quartz, I found that many earthenware vessels containing such sparkling stones were excavated from the Jomon Period in Hokkaido. I think they were used for decoration. Our sense of beauty might actually be the same today.

I don't think I can do such a thing. All I hope is to share some feelings with others.

It's a small thing. For example, silkworms may look and feel disgusting to some people. However, the silk threads they produce are extremely beautiful. When you look at it from that perspective, you realize what beautiful creatures they are. It's natural to judge from appearance, that is, apparent beauty. What's inside cannot be easily seen. I want to believe that what you can see with your eyes is not everything, and I want to approach everything with that mindset.