2channel 4K video with sound
portrait video: 5’55″(loop), making video: 5’55(loop)
Mask: φ30cm, porcelain, Materials collected from the rooftop, 8pieces
Saga, Japan
2018
I had residency each 2 or 3 weeks in Saga City for three years starting in 2016, which researching, planning, and making in a gallery that was open to the public. In the first year, I set up a tent in the gallery and lived there, drawing up a plan based on my research in Saga City and information brought to me by local visitors. I washed and collected the dirt, dust from old farm equipment and the dung of birds (mainly crows and egret), the dung was a city problem in there. The next year, I used the collected items for a trial glaze, and it was unexpectedly solid. With the help of the potters, we have created look like plates or like masks. inspired on the ceramic masks that used to be displayed in the old day in the living room, and many famous ceramic production areas nearby, as well as a festival with masks in northern Kyushu. In the following year, based on the information from a citizen’s survey that the rooftops of museums were dirty, we conducted research and collected dirt on the rooftops of libraries, newspapers company, and movie theaters too. Feathers dropped by birds, balls flown in from somewhere, and weeds were placed on a plate-shaped mask and baked as was. finally, I asked the people who worked in each building to wear that mask then took their portraits.
