AIR - day 21

Playing with forms. 

These are thin wood slips my host father

did not use for lantern.

ゴミ箱行きの提灯の端材をもらって、形で遊んでみる。

AIR - day 20

This is what I made from "the crisps" I wrote about in yesterday's post.

昨日のポストにあった"チップスター"が、こうなりました。

I asked Haba-san, my host father, to teach me how to make a wire structure. He is not only a lantern artisan but he can do anything! 

私がホームステイでお世話になっている幅さんに、ロウ継ぎを教えてもらいました。幅さんは提灯職人さんですが、何でもできるすごい方です。仕事もキッチリで素晴らしい！

AIR - day 19

I've been cutting out many circles.... and found they really look like crisps because of the natural curvy shape. 

 

ひたすら丸を切り抜いていたのですが、もうこれがチップスターにしか見えません…。自然につくカーブがそっくり！

AIR - day 18

We had a guest who is specialized in Kakejiku and Byoubu, paper scroll and paper screen.

今日は表具屋さんが来てくださいました。

Byoubu has several layers of paper to construct a thic flat surface. This paper, which was used for the foundation, is an old note of math. It seems to be very old as it was written with ink and brush.

壊してもいい屏風を持ってきてくださり、紙を破って構造の中を見ることができました。紙が何重にも重ねられています。よく見ると数学の問題集のようでした。昔の和紙は質がいいので、古い紙をよく使うそうです。

Doubled screen: Seeing the painting on the other side with light. 

後ろの絵が透けてぼんやり見える屏風。

Technique of Ise-katagami which is from Mie prefecture. 

伊勢型紙をつかったもの。

Byoubu has a same measurement of tatami to fit with. So precise!

屏風は畳のサイズと同じです。ぴったりで綺麗。

AIR - day 17

I have kept working on the lantern for these days and been stressed out as I even haven't decide the shape yet...  

So... had a break in a cafe opposite of the studio and got back to the work :/ 

あかりアート展にだす作品づくりが難航中…の為、アップする写真が今日はなし。ストレスが溜まってきたので、他のアーティストと一緒にスタジオの向かいのカフェに息抜きへ。

明日にはそろそろ形を決めないと。

AIR - day 16

Thinking and doing.

AIR - day 15

Experiment with light. 

光のスタディ。

AIR - day 14

I visited Youki Hirakawa's exhibition which was brilliant.

His video works are related with a tree in the forest next to the museum and

the way he exhibits all his work was very well considered.

While his work inside were shown with petrifaction of a tree which belongs to the museum,

there are two projection in the forest.

Please have a look at his beautiful work more on his website.

美濃加茂市で行われている、平川祐樹さんの展示を見に行きました。

ミュージアム内の林にあった枯れ木にまつわる映像作品群は、

同博物館所蔵の珪化木（化石となった木）と一緒に展示され、

外の林内にも２つの作品が投影されていました。

作品のコンセプトとその展示方法がとても良く考えられている素晴らしい展示です。

平川さんの作品はこちらから。

AIR - day 13

Wonderful tool to make a small hole on paper. It is used in Ise, Mie prefecture, to make a stencil.

伊勢型紙を作る道具を貸して頂きました。紙に小さな穴を抜く道具です。

AIR - day 12

I completed the three days workshop of paper making!

I think that the beauty of a hand made paper comes from its process. 

It is amazingly time-consuming and hard working to prepare the material to produce paper.

100 kg Kozo, which is a plant used as a material, can become into only 4kg of paper. 

Some equipments are also made by hand with skills, for example a bamboo mat for draining fibers. 

Bamboo are sharpen into thin sticks and 2 sticks were even joined into one by a specialist.

(I don't know how they can do that!)

Then they use silk threads to tie them up to make a mat. 

The threads are also made by a specialized artisan.

I was amazed that how the paper making is delicate and precise based on skilled craft.

If you want to know more about the process of paper making,

you will enjoy this video on youtube.  

Thu's work

3日間の紙すきワークショップが終わりました。

紙の美しさは、できるまでの長い行程や、

つかう道具の繊細さから来ているように感じました。

100kgの楮（原料）からできる紙はたった4kg。

本当に時間と手間がかかります。

より詳しく工程を知りたい方はこちらの映像、おすすめです。

紙を漉くための道具もとても繊細です。

スという竹のマットがあるのですが、

細い竹を繋ぎあわせ、絹の糸で編んであります。

その竹を加工する職人さん、絹糸をつくる職人さんが専門にいらっしゃるそうです。

手仕事の美しさ。

できたものだけでなく、その過程含めてのものなのだと改めて感じました。

工芸もアートも同じですね。

AIR - day 11

Paper making workshop - day 2

Today we could experiment what we want to do such as mark making or putting something between papers. I made 19 sheets of papers. It was a great coincidental development process that I can feel, think and just try.

今日は自分のやりたい紙を制作。全部で19枚漉きました。

思考と手と感覚が同時進行で動くこの感じが、久々にすごく心地よかったです。

AIR - day 10

Paper making workshop - day 1

AIR - day 9

Some experiments with the light today and a welcoming party in the evening.

It is very interesting to be in the community in Mino learning about their custom and history.

They told me about paper makers, merchants and a blush maker as well as about Mino festival in April. The festival has a long history and people go around the town carrying miniature shrines which were decorated with hundreds of paper flowers. I could see everyone who talks about the festival seems to be so happy to be a part of it. I would love to see it hopefully next year.

You can see the pics of the festival here.

http://www.mino-city.jp/jp/tourist/festival01.html

今日は昼間は光と影の実験をし、夜は歓迎会。

美濃の人との交流はとても面白い。

美濃の歴史や紙屋さん、筆屋さんについてや、

年に一度の美濃祭りで花みこしを吊ること。

(お神輿を担ぐことをツルと言うそうです。)

お祭りの話をする皆さんの顔の輝きっぷりを見て、是非その時期にまた来たいと思いました。

花みこしについてはこちら。

http://www.mino-city.jp/jp/tourist/festival01.html

AIR - day 8

A day trip to Shirakawagou, a national heritage, and Gujou-hachiman to see a workshop making a food sample made with wax.

日帰りで白川郷と郡上八幡の食品サンプル工房を見に。

FRaU advert

As I did before I worked for the advertising posters for FRaU, a Japanese women's magazine, which were displayed in Omotesando station again. I made small props with paper and also did the bookbinding.

前回に引き続き、女性誌FRaUの駅ばり広告のお仕事をさせて頂きました。今回は小物類を紙で作り、製本もしています。

Client : Kodansha Ltd.,

AD : Kohtaro Hori (horitz)

Photographer : Kenichiro Fujimoto (A.K.A)

Artwork : Hiroko Matsushita (Nomena Inc.)