Happy Christmas! ハッピークリスマス!

Thanks for looking, supporting and caring in 2012! Please keep an eye on me in 2013...
gx

More thoughts on the residency & my time in Mino

"the painter goes through the land and sees what nobody else has seen because landscape painting comes from inside and not out. It depends entirely on who he is."

Christopher Neve.*

"As Proust said, reality lies not in the appearance of the subject but in the extent to which it leaves an impression on the artist. In other words, realism has to be jettisoned in the search for reality."

Christopher Neve.*

SEPTEMBER - FIRST DAY PAPER MAKING

 Mino is centred around the industry of paper making, (in all it's manifestations).  There are at least six large paper making factories in the area. There is also a, government funded, research facility here, solely concerned with the technical development of paper making. There is an impressive, working, museum, dedicated the material and method of the craft and production of paper, in all its forms.  Mino Washi Paper is (as you probably know by now;-), is made by hand.  It's produced in small workshops, dotted around the city and mostly near the Nagara river, (clean, naturally sourced water is essential in Washi production). Only a handful remain, but the quality of what the crafts people produce is world class. The 'Mino Gami', as it's known, is strong, light, clean and very beautiful.  It's uses range from lining traditional sliding screen doors, lantern construction, business cards, printing and art materials.  There are factories producing cardboard here too, sanitary products such as toilet paper are produced down the road from where I'm staying. Papers' place in the community is firmly set.  This became even clearer to me when attending a recent festival.  There, I discovered a local toilet paper factory, giving away two rolls free to anyone, and everyone, that wanted them.  As cheap as toilet paper is, people queued for ages to get theirs, some even went to the back of the queue to get more! It seemed a supportive gesture by the factory, not promotional or self serving, just a continuation of tradition; giving something back.

THE NAGARA RIVER

 The residency was developed with the aim of promoting 'Mino Gami'.  Nearly three months ago, we were shown how to make it.  The lessons were basic, but really, it's technique that counts and practice...lots of practice.  I thoroughly enjoyed making paper, I returned on several occasions to produce sheets that I would utilize in my process and subsequently, in my art works.  I have shunned any machine made paper in the final exhibition. There is human energy invested in my work, the rhythm of the body has been translated into layers of paper fibres, the direction they have been woven together is influenced by food, mood, moisture and temperature.  The raw materials grew in fields around Mino, were subject to possible interference from monkeys and wild boar! The materials were boiled in a huge iron pot.  The cooled, and sun-bleached, fibres were then Washed, graded and sorted by human hands.  Human eyes spotted the 'imperfections' and removed them to produce a pure pulp. I consider Mino Washi to be a 21st very modern material.  It's sustainable, and environmentally sound and with research, I'm certain, it could be applied in even more ways than is already possible.  I'd love to see what industrial designers could achieve with it; what students, back in the UK, would make of it's amazing properties, completely out of the context that I presently find myself within. 

MINO WASHI MUSEUM DVD

 Please don't misunderstand my respect for Mino Washi as being romantic. The job of making paper can be laborious, it can be tiring, labor intensive, (I've even heard it described as "boring" by a resident,) but I believe it's worthwhile. In making the paper myself, I have encountered the meditative aspects of the process. The time was amazingly reflective and thought provoking, there were times I felt emotional, experiencing lucid memories; I thought of people who'd been instrumental in giving me the courage to be in Japan.  I have felt physically and mentally connected to an aspect of a culture so far away, (in terms of geography and philosophy), from my own. 

For me personally, the conceptual application of Washi has reflected my interest in the corporeal nature of the human body.  How our bodies emotionally engage with a specific place and our sense of connection to an extensive physical, (or conceptual), environment. I am concerned with how we emotionally engage with a location and how this engagement might manifest itself upon the surface of natural and man-made materials.  Washi paper is relatively pure, it's a plant based product. It has a skin like surface and an inherently fibrous structure. Because it is porous, it can respond dramatically to changes in temperature and air moisture content, (it continues to distort and change with the addition/subtraction of these environmental factors).  These properties have proved invaluable to my process and provided a physically defined pathway for my materialist vocabulary to 'evolve'. My work has been, largely process driven, I have allowed accidents and effects to guide my decision making.  

 

FIELD OF VISION  - Washi Paper

During my time on the residency, I experimented with making direct reference to the body; for example my Akari Lantern - "Sanctuary" utilized the outline of my own hand.  The negative space, found within the central core of the lantern, housed a dried leaf.  The image was limiting, it became too literal, too easy to read; it's ecological message became too overt.  I have chosen to reference human physical processes and structures in a more abstract and minimal way. This approach will allow a broader range of interpretations from its observers. It will allow deeper engagement with the theme of the work and will encourage projection of the viewers own experience, particularly upon the sparse surfaces, of the washi pieces.

SCRATCH THE SURFACE Washi Paper/Spray Paint

How the work is manufactured is always important to me.  The repetitive process needed to produce the paper elements in "Field of Vision" conceptually evolved out of my need for routine & for structure, (largely due to my dyslexia and daily use of 'coping mechanisms'). It comes from my enjoyment of running, walking and cycling - the repetitive motion of propulsion, allowing me to meditate upon the connection with my environment and my intimate relationship with the materials found there. The large scale of the piece is intended to refer to my connection with the cinematic landscape, the space contained within the boundary of the 16:9 frame. The two-dimensional plane of a large cinema screen has never hindered my imaginary, three dimensional, interactions with its projected subjects. For me, the cinema screen has provided believable depth, inseparable illusion and allowed me to totally suspend my system of disbelief. 

 This whole experience has been remarkably worthwhile. I feel energized by my time spent here. My process has been enhanced by my dissertation reading and its been informed by the  introduction to new materials and making techniques. I cant wait to carry on what Iv'e started back at Birmingham City University, (and in my basement!). 

My life has been forever transformed by living with a Japanese family and I have been deeply affected by the, ever changing, landscape that surrounds their home. I am forever in their debt.

*References

*Neve, C. (1990) Unquiet Landscape. London: Faber and Faber.

Page 7 and Page 126 respectively.

Thanks w. ux

Exhibition Flyer...

Moments in Mino...

I have spent a couple of hours (it takes me along time to write anything!) jotting down thoughts about cycling around Mino. It's proved to be really important to my stay here. Cycling has opened the extent of the whole experience both inside my head and in the landscape within which I've been moving. Please excuse my mixture of present and past tenses and please excuse anything else you find fault in...just try and imagine yourself in this magical place.

29th November

Cycling every day now. Visited temple and shrine with cat again; it's reliably luxuriating amongst the vivid foliage. See kingfishers most days. See so many herons too. Enjoying the movement through the landscape. The wind passing my ears, I remove my hat to ensure I feel movement through space. Sunshine provides warmth in morning. See the same people too. People exercising, walking quickly, dressed from top to toe in black. Wearing protection from the sun. I always see one man, shakily trembling in his strides, fighting the onset of a condition that may render him immobile one day - for now, he's fighting it, punching his way along the river path.

There is colour in the hills, fire from the trees. Colour encircles the temples and shrines, it seems to have a holy purpose here - people, generally wear somber colours, black, beige, cream, navy etc. They're unified by the universal desire to be amongst, be part of, and not, in front of or separate from. Colour appears to be an expensive spiritual currency and of course, controlled by man. I pass people trimming leeks, people with wheel barrows overflowing with greenery. I pass people in the river, tending nets, (they've removed the nets now though, as it's cold). I cross a bridge, many cars are passing over it, rush hour, it always take a long time to move over this point. Dogs, 'guarding' their houses, bark at me as I pass, revealing my presence. I pass Persimmons hanging from balconies, from the eaves of houses, drying in the sun. I've watched their forms shrink, shrivel and their hue darken over time. Raddish, huge, long, white and bright in the sun are also hanging, drying in lines. At one point I travel through an area of old and densely arranged housing. I love shooting on through the narrow corridor streets. Convex mirrors are conveniently positioned at various bends, so I can look ahead, look around a corner, without reducing my momentum. It's great fun and the closeness of the buildings' walls, only intensifies and enhances the feeling of speed and exhilaration.

Bonfires neatly burn, housed in galvanised bins, they smoulder, filling the river plain with sweet, milky smoke. Plastic poly-tunnels are slowly filling with forms. Plants are beginning to emerge through black, bin bag, plastic. Order in nature, often planted by octogenarians. The elderly appear to be the most active, however crippled by their bent over physicality, they insist on moving; they continue to tend their world. They can't allow nature to get a foothold on their plot. The milk processing plant, near the river; it has fibreglass cows residing in the car park. Cows are unseen, they are hidden in sheds to ensure their aroma doesn't escape. Chickens too, are disguised in barns, shame, they produce such beautiful eggs with yolks, the colour of glowing apricots.

The river continues to assists my movement. It pushes me down the valley. Even cycling against the flow seems easier somehow. I'm compelled to witness something new amongst the cradling routine I've found in Mino. I pause occasionally to view the deeper pools of heavy bellied water. Fish sway through the streaming flow, they're held in limbo, being pressed into weightlessness by the passing currents; must be nice to be a fish.

As I return towards the centre of Mino, I pass numerous examples of manufacture. There are beautiful satin sheen fabrics on display in the window of the Futon Maker. Every now and then, a pile of rainbow patterned pillow beds appear, presumably waiting collection. I have seen numerous tatami floor mat factories, (I say factories, I mean open fronted houses). The slightly damp, straw-like, aroma is comforting, it reminds me of sleep. Tatami are always warm, there's an inert softness I love, the smell is also reminiscent of playing in barns as a child, being near livestock. I pass one small building every morning; the shed window is usually open. I see a man routinely standing in the same position. I can't see his hands, but the sound I hear gives away the purpose of his stance. He's sharpening knives (and possibly brand new knives made in, nearby Seki City). All day, everyday, putting an edge onto the blades of knives. I can smell the grind stone, the fumes are ejected from the building via extraction, the visual evidence of this, streaks its way down the exterior wall. At least he keeps his window open.

The studio is located in the historical centre of Mino City. The 'Udatsu' houses are distinct. They are terraced, covered with shiny, graphite coloured, tiles; these beautifully reflect sunshine and are pleasing sight when wet too, (a commiseration when the heavy Gifu rains fall.) Geometric wooden window frames punctuate the linear frontages and copper guttering is suspended from beneath the eaves. They are neat and their stature is admirable. The area attracts tourists and school parties from near and far. I often have to avert my head, (when cycling along the main street,) to avoid the gaze of elementary school children.

That's as far as I've got for now, hope it enlightened you a little as to why I've found this whole experience moving and life changing. Thanks for reading.

g.

I Can Almost See it!

It's Kaki Time!

I have posted an image on Twitter of these delightful fruit!  Kaki , (also known as Persimmons).  They're in high season at the moment.  Falling off the tress like apples in Herefordshire.  People peel them and hang them to dry on sunny balconies and under the verandas of sheds etc. I have had them, dried, raw, in a salad, frozen, on toast etc.  Apparently they sell them in Aldi and Asda, (other supermarkets are available of course).  Buy one and try one:-P
g

 

 

All going to plan...

Latest work.  Leading up to the final exhibition, I have been trying the pressed Mino Washi paper pieces I  made, in various situations and contexts.  The most obvious, I guess, is the image at the base of this post.  I placed the pieces within the confines of two tatami mats.  These lie at the centre of an eight tatami mat room at the Udatsu Studio. The boundaries of each mat have symbolic meaning for me, as do the subtle differences between each paper square.  
I am playing with titles and I imagine a huge vertical display of these at the show.  Approx 750 separate pieces will be used in the final piece, should look great with the lighting effect, shown below right.  I am being slightly cryptic about the whole affair, because I want the piece to be dramatic, cinematic and performative...all aspects that have occurred to me on this journey in Japan.
g

 

Influences for the piece are far ranging from floor/wall tiles to human and plant cell structures.