Anthology　　　　　　　　沖 潤子

 

 

茶室ひと間を作品とするというお話をいただいた時、茶道の心得がない私はどう捉えたら良いかとまどいながら、新しい挑みに胸が高なった。

 

夏の終わりにはじめて萩を訪れ、美術館の一番奥にある茶室の畳を長い時間じっと見つめた。寡黙の吐息のにおいがし、積もった時間のちりが見える。この場所と私の針目をつなげる何かが必要だ。

 

糸巻を募り、根室から那覇まで国内の各所から七千個あまりを提供していただいた。さまざまな方の「母の、祖母の、義母の、友人の」糸。ラベルが変わったため在庫になっていた古い糸。一個の糸巻にそれぞれの道程があった。

 

目に見えないものに鼓舞され、煮つめられた私の針目はいま畳の上で触手を伸ばす。その先端を一個一個の糸巻に絡め、一堂に会したよろこびの中ここに至る風景を互いに告白し、くりかえされる歴史を凝視しているのではなかろうか。

 

アンソロジーとは詩撰、歌集などの意味だが、言語を調べてゆくと古代ギリシア語で「花摘み」の意味があると知った。

 

一年の展示期間である。

どんな日々だったかを報告しつつ、来たる春の桜を手向けて最終日を迎えたい。互いの時間を持ちより、ようやくこのたびの茶室での「アンソロジー」が編みあがるだろう。

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Anthology                Junko Oki

 

When I was presented with the idea of transforming an entire traditional Japanese tea-ceremony room into an art installation of my own,  I was thrilled with the new challenge even though my lack of profound insight pertaining to tea culture slightly weighed on my mind.

 

I visited Hagi for the first time towards the end of last summer, and went inside the tea-ceremony room which was situated in the innermost area of the museum. I gazed at the tatami-mat and contemplated for a while. In the room, I sensed the presence of silent sighs and accumulated particles of time. I needed “something”  to connect this place to my needlework.

 

I sought the thread spools publicly, and received more than seven thousand of them from various prefectures of Japan such as Nemuro in Hokkaido and Naha in Okinawa. Threads once used by

the senders’ mothers, grandmothers, mothers-in-law and friends. Some threads had been deserted

in the corner of a warehouse as the brand name on the label was no longer in use.  

Each thread spool had its own distinctive history, using different paths to eventually reach me.

 

Inspired by the concentration of all of their unknown histories, my needlework and my stitches lie on the tatami-mat, stretching their feelers as each one of them feeds into a spool. 

They must be delighted to find each other, to be able to introduce the journey they had gone through, and to marvel at their histories that have unfolded.
 

“Anthology” can be defined as a collection of songs, poems, and other forms of written text. However, I also learned that it can mean “flower-gathering” in ancient Greek.

 

This exhibition is for a whole year.

In the next spring, on the final day, with cherry blossoms as an offering I would come here.  I hope to share all that had gone through during the year. Our time would be gathered then, and the “anthology”  of the tea-room would finally be concluded.

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translator :Toshiaki Komuro

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