ARTIST INTERVIEW

ーー What sparked your interest in tea ceremony?

Ever since I was a child, I would go to potters and make tea bowls, just like playing with clay, so it was familiar to me.  Over the past seven or eight years, I've become interested in tea utensils, and after the exhibition at YUGEN Gallery last year, I decided to try carving out a tea scoop out of wood, and I've been hooked.  After cutting out about 100 pieces, I finally started to see something that felt like me.  From there, I wonder if there is a shape of a tea scoop for me that is not the so-called shape of a tea scoop.  I started thinking.

Solo exhibition “NUDAVERITAS feat.SUSIESVELT” held from April 1st (Sat) to April 6th (Thursday), 2023

ーー This leads to "reconstruction," one of the keywords of the exhibition.

I have the utmost respect not only for the tea ceremony but also for traditional Japanese culture. For that reason, I feel that paying too much respect to tradition may be a barrier.  I also think that things that have survived over the years have been rebuilt in each era, and rather than just making traditional things as they are, we should freely come up with ideas that feel contemporary to us today.  I feel that is important. It's not that I'm anti-traditional.

ーー This exhibition is made up of talented members.

In particular, Isogai san and JINGUUJI, who goes by the name art's gaze Jin, is a craftsman and has an extremely high level of skill in completing what he is asked to do.  This time, as a producer, I have faith that he will be able to give form to what I imagined, or rather, that he will go beyond that.

Asano was also an artist who I had seen learning traditional wood carving and producing works that incorporated it into contemporary art, and I wanted to work with him someday.  Ishiguro is a designer who creates one-of-a-kind clothes by dismantling old clothes into pieces, and is a designer whose work focuses on reconstruction.  The theme of this exhibition is "Dadaism," in which he examines preconceived notions.  We had them make a haori as a collaborative work that raises questions.

What if you make tea utensils that you have never made before?  Based on this perspective, I was convinced that the fusion of contemporary artists and craftsmen, or rather the once-in-a-lifetime chemical reaction, would allow us to rebuild tradition and make it the coolest thing ever.

ーー Each one works with different materials such as wood, stone, iron, and cloth. What did you keep in mind when directing each artist?

I've talked about my personal image of black, but I hope people can create their own worldviews based on their own interpretations.  Although it is heavy, such as stone or iron, it must be usable.  I told them that I would like tea utensils such as jujubes and tea utensils to be seen as actual utensils, rather than just being copied in form.

KENICHI ASANO

ーー What kind of chemical reaction did you have?

We always draw pictures on paper, but this time we also made hanging scrolls from wood.  With the moon as the theme, the moon part is made of corroded iron, brass, and copper, and its color changes with a burner, while the background is painted by YUMEKA in ink and acrylic.  My decision to create works using metal was influenced by my encounter with an artist who works with iron, and it was also by chance that I was inspired to make a tea scoop by carving the wood I mentioned earlier.  It all started when I was able to obtain rare trees such as black persimmons and black persimmons.  I have once again realized that chance encounters can lead to something.

EDO AND YUMEKA “tea scoop(茶杓)”

ーー This coincidence is, in other words, the extraordinary, which leads to the theme of this time, ``Art as the extraordinary.''

The modern idea of ​​looking at and displaying art and works of art on a daily basis is important, but I also want to create art that lies in the gap between the extraordinary and the everyday, and that you can only reach by going down an alley.  I think it's okay to have something, and I have a strong desire to create it.

I don't know what influence it had on the butoh dance performed by Sankai Juku's Amago Ushidai, which my father took me to see when I was a child, but it definitely left a strong impression on my life.  A person wearing white paint comes out of the darkness and dances. Lately, I've been feeling like I'm making work because I want to explore my own emotions that arose in the darkness of that moment.  I want to cherish such extraordinary experiences.

The world of tea is truly an extraordinary experience, and the tea room welcomes guests in a space filled with art such as hanging scrolls and tea utensils.  In other words, a tea room is a gallery.  What will the view be like from there?  I would be happy if you learned something about yourself and went home feeling good.

Sankai Juku “Time in - Time”©︎Sankai Juku