⑪ Fragrant Forest

This space consists of hundreds of thousands of paper strings and has a soft feel. Holes are opened on the seven pillars that express a forest. When you put your face into the hole, you will be surrounded by the fragrance and sound that reproduce nature on here Iwadeyama.

Tomoko Ishida

1958 Born in Osaka

About this work and the Kankaku Museum

For the last several years, my works have been based on the concept of creation through daily life. All aspects of time, materials, and the place of creation coexist with daily life. When I started on this work, I could not spare a certain length of time. Therefore, I had to find out a unit of work that could be completed in seconds. The work had to be started and ended anytime, anywhere, without calling for any special place. I also looked for materials that were no longer required in daily life, that could be acquired without any special efforts, and that did not call for special trouble to purchase. I was preoccupied by daily chores and errands and with homemaking tasks emerging one after another if I intended to do. Under those circumstances, I wanted to confirm my presence a little, instead of simply getting carried away. I polished rice and cleaned my home every day, which appeared the same and done by the same person every day, but were actually never the same. When I finally could find certain time, the simple repeated work in a short unit of time had become a pleasant activity for me. I also noticed that, when everyday materials that used to pass in front of me changed their forms in my hands, that simple activity brought an unknown joy to me. This may be the religious, ritual, or ecstatic feeling brought by the repetition of a simple activity. It is not the power of a single piece nor the dynamism of the aggregated pieces. It does not seem to be the joy of my "ego," either. It has become such a mysterious activity. As a Buddhist term Koke (unsubstantial) suggests, the paper piece in my hands can be regarded as a tip of this ever-changing world. The paper strings have completed their certain roles and have come into contact with me in the middle of their ever-changing course. The speed or direction of change may vary from time to time. Still, my hands actually feel their changes. Of course, the changes that occur in our daily life are more dynamic than those of paper. The unsubstantial activity of twisting changes in the midst of changes somehow feels like taking off ornaments and clothes to make myself naked. I feel as if the activity is also being performed inside myself, while supporting myself with warmth even in the midst of severe changes that resemble a cold wind. I have heard a Zen phrase wondering what is lacking after being born naked. It is strange that my activity even gives me such a feeling. I would be extremely happy if my work helps you feel the strength of fragile things, tranquility among dynamism, stability in the midst of changes, and the substance behind an unsubstantial state.

Fragrance direction for the Kankaku Museum

Toshifumi Yoshitake

1955 Born in Tokyo

http://sakonnotachibana.server-shared.com

Fragrance Project for the Kankaku Museum

Among the five senses of humans, smells and fragrance are sensed by the olfactory sensation, and are invisible, uncertain, and vague as a perception. However, their uncertainty enriches daily life and stimulates our profound imagination. We have planned to help visitors experience smells and fragrance in many parts of the Kankaku Museum. In particular, the seasonal smells and fragrance of nature on Iwadeyama are expressed by many exhibits. As the proverb says, "It is darkest under the lamp post," it is difficult for us to recognize the smells and fragrance of the town where we live because they are too close to our lives. I hope to help visitors re-recognize the rich nature on Iwadeyama through their olfactory experience at the Kankaku Museum. In the modern era, humans seem to have come to a standstill in many aspects because they have forgotten to live in nature due to the development of the material civilization. I suppose that we, modern people, should have the recognition that we are alive before we are living. This recognition of being alive is acquired through the perception and sensation, not only through reason. This may be the modern significance of the olfactory sense as a primitive sensation. A certain smell or fragrance sometimes freshly reminds us of a past memory. (This is called the hysteresis of smell.) The presence of such smells and fragrances not only reproduces the memories of life, but may also help us recognize the original significance of the human presence. I heard that the term sapiens in homo sapience used to signify sensing smells or receiving taste and fragrance. This sounds somewhat symbolic. It may sound like an exaggeration when you hear the re-recognition of human presence. I would be happy if your experience of smells and fragrance in the Kankaku Museum helps you recognize that you are being let live in nature.