The historical past and the internal structure of Yumoto house, which was once used for silkworm farming and as a hospital, is the framework for my site-specific installation. Through detailed observation of the environment, surfaces and placement of objects, I am re-tracing and tracking the movements by previous inhabitants.The installation consists of 1,000 meters of silver yarn, three drawings (220cm x 82cm each), and sound recordings.
The yarn weaves through the space creating forms between the internal support structures. By arranging the space into various sculptural forms and planes, the audience can explore different pathways through the installation. The yarn’s reflective surface catches the changes of daylight which accentuate the drawn lines throughout the space.
Nakanojo Biennale 2015 12th Sept – 12th Oct
Visible traces of past human activity such as stains, scratches and notches are captured in drawings on delicate Japanese rice and silk paper. Ink is dropped and dragged into pools of salt water with various domestic cleaning brushes, echoing the movements of washing and sweeping the environment. Once dried, white and vermilion gouache is dribbled delicately over the surface, as if the sweat and blood of the labourer or patient have left their marks. Scribes lines are drawn in silver leaf to punctuate the irregular rhythms of marks, looking as though a composer has been penning their thoughts. Fragments of words and sentences are inserted within the drawings which lean against the mud walls.
Sound tracks from multiple speakers are placed within the exhibition space in order to direct the audience’s movement and act of looking. The different lengths of the yarn strings are represented by pitches from all across the audio spectrum, from high harp notes to low bass frequencies.
