James Jack

As an artist in residence on Shodo Island I have developed many new artworks, most notably the permanent installation work Sunset House. I began research for the work two years ago, redesigned the interior of the house last summer and have been at work on the exterior over the past four months. The site is charged with social history that became apparent to me through daily conversations with the elderly in the area. From their stories I realized that the pillars, roof tiles and other structural materials for this shed were originally part of the “Mutsumi Club” run by the Osaka Sekizai Company. After a typhoon nearly destroyed the clubhouse forty years ago it was relocated by the current owner and used as a storage shed for fishing nets, garden tools and other odd items. Since the owner has passed away over a decade ago the shed had fallen out of use and the space was becoming stale in the absence of a current use.

While listening to the local people’s memories of drinking parties, tea gatherings and many breaks from work that took place at this clubhouse I realized the significance of my work in this specific place at this particular time. No different from most of the islands in Setouchi and the Japanese countryside in general, the population on Shodo Island is decreasing. For school, work, convenience and many other reasons young people are leaving the countryside for urban lifestyles and fewer and fewer couples are having babies. Towns such as Kounoura where I am undertaking this artwork show the signs of decreasing population very clearly. In some areas there are more empty houses than those being lived in and it is easier to find a car with an elderly sticker than one without. In the midst of this complex social history of the place I had to find a way to incorporate the memories, wishes and dreams of these people directly into my art installation.

One of the first reasons I was fascinated by this particular shed of all the potential exhibition sites was its raw, cracking mud interior walls. Last year I preserved the characteristics of these walls while mixing white and black stone dust into the compound to create circular forms inside the wall surfaces. (More details of this stage from last year can be found on my website HERE.) This year I envisioned a similar form that suggested a circle for the exterior of the building, but chose to use materials that are commonly used in local architecture. Throughout the process of redesigning the exterior surface, I realized that people’s hopes, memories and wishes could all become an integral part of the walls themselves. I asked the local elderly group to each write a remembrance, dream or wish on a small piece of paper. This became a way for me to learn more about the history of the site and the people living in the community. I soon realized that these wishes were a genuine way for the local community to gain an active voice in the heart of this artwork. Therefore I chose to adhere their paper wishes directly to the mud walls of the building so it would be endowed with the hearts of all those who participate.

The first challenge I faced was the question, “But what is the point if these wishes be covered up by the new wood surface?” In conceiving this artwork I did not want to make things obvious, but rather to suggest the larger existence of what is already there. For example, in drawing two circles into the interior of the structure I chose to draw fragments of two larger circles, one opening up to the sky and another opening to the earth in order to suggest that which lies beyond the architecture of the building itself. The same concept held true for the wishes, but even stronger. Precisely because they not visible on the surface of the artwork the wishes impress an emotional message on the mind. That which is obvious, in front of one’s eyes, does not need to be remembered because it is visible; but that which is invisible must be actively remembered, told in a story or represented in media such as photographs. These layers of meaning in the work evolved naturally from the materials and history of the site. Some adults were skeptical at first, but one by one the wishes started pouring in from all types of people. Some residents were so enthusiastic they wrote 3-4 sheets overflowing with creativity, poetry and personal thoughts. I held two workshops, one for a kindergarden class and another for an elderly club in which everyone recorded their memories of sunsets, hopes for the present and dreams for the future. The affixing of countless wishes to the walls recharged the site with a new energy related to its roots as a clubhouse. But instead the space is now transforming into a place where people old and young, local and foreign, can meet to appreciate nature just as it is.

The materials for Sunset House reflect a deep connection between people and nature. For example I have been working exclusively with yakita, or burnt clapboards, for the exterior of the surface. These clapboards are used to resist the harsh ocean breezes in the Setouchi Inland Sea and have a unique aesthetic appeal. But I felt the structure would become too dark if it were entirely blackened, so I struggled to find other natural materials that would lighten the exterior to a more balanced composition. I found that raw wood could give a rough appeal to the section of the building where I chose to draw a circular form while maintaining a harmony of material with the burnt wood used for all of the other surfaces of the building. Additionally I added a mud wall section around the building near the roofline to draw a closer link between the interior mud walls and the exterior of the structure. Similar to the mixture used inside, I formulated a mix of local stone quarry dust to lighten the local mud used for composing earthen walls. Like many towns on the Island of Shodo, the history of this town is full of stories of a stone quarry that brought great abundance to the people in the area. I have also been purely fascinated with earth pigments for the past ten years and often incorporate these pigments into my artworks.

I will be presenting this work along with another site-specific installation titled Philosophy of Colors for an exhibition opening next week. There are still many components of the site I plan to work with in the future, therefore Sunset House will not be completed until 2013. Both artworks will be open to the public starting on December 10th and the exhibition details can be downloaded HERE. In addition to the new exterior of the building, each paper wish will be included in a video projection on the interior walls of the building. The project has been covered by a number of Japanese reporters so please read more about Sunset House in these articles which can be downloaded here 園児ら作家を”お手伝い” and 子供との描く夕焼けハウス as well as a radio broadcaster who wrote about my work on her blog after a recent visit to the studio which can be linked HERE. For those of you who cannot make it to see the work this month please stay tuned because this is a permanent installation work that will be on display again in the future.

While writing on the sand with a stick, I noticed a mikan lying on the line between the ocean and the land. It was being pushed back and forth by the rough waves, resting on high ground only for a moment, before the next wave pulled it back into the ocean. As I observed the mikan move across the beach I saw a story develop. This scene inspired a new video work titled “Mikan Story” that I have worked on over the past year and a half. It includes narration by Mihoko Furuya and myself as well as new footage shot on Shodo Island. This story will soon to be told in Tokyo as part of the GTS exhibition “Espirit” opening on October 23rd, 2011 from 5-8 pm. Please see the following website for more information.

I am working with natural pigments and an assortment of local materials in my new studio in the Setouchi Inland Sea as an artist in residence through the end of the year.  The region has been experiencing a swelling of contemporary art projects that are revitalizing small villages by utilizing empty spaces for art installations. Naoshima was the first example of how a small island could serve as a hub for contemporary art projects and was recently the topic of this article in the New York Times. The project I have been invited to participate in is on the larger island of Shodo and sponsored by Kagawa prefecture, one of the main sponsors of the Setouchi International Art Festival held last year. I will be working at the same site where I made the permanent installation work “A House of Language/土と共に” in 2010 as well as creating new video and works on paper. Please download the residency brochure HERE for more info on the details of this residency project.

I am developing a new project for Hokkaido that has been coordinated by the organizers of the exhibition Cycles of Memory (see flyer above). This project deals with the layers of earth and human consciousness, exposing the beauty of what lies beneath us. For this project soil will be drawn from a historical site in Hokkaido and redistributed on a mound near the exhibition venue in Tarumae. This movement of soil brings human daily labor into direct contact with the layers of soil that lie deep inside the earth, changing the color of a public site and exposing the history of a volcanic site. This project is tentatively titled Storied Landscape as people’s stories will be an integral part of the installation process, and the landscape itself will reveal people’s stories of the region and its history. I will hold workshops with the local community on July 20 and July 23rd and a public lecture is scheduled for July 24th at the Tomakomai Museum.

I will be the Orvis Artist in Residence at the Honolulu Academy of Art starting this Saturday, May 14th. This work will be made specifically for the Academy utilizing locally available natural materials. Natural pigment samples will be sculpted into handmade conical shapes in collaboration with museum visitors on Saturdays from 10-4:30 and Sundays from 1-4pm. These cones will collectively form a miniature landscape that will be displayed outdoors in the Banyan courtyard. The cone-making process will be demonstrated in Gallery 30 and the public is invited to sculpt cones that will be a part of the outdoor installation. The goal of this work is to revitalize people’s connection to the land we live on, revealing the wealth and diversity of the soil via a site-determined installation. The work will slowly unfold over the course of my residency period from May 14- June 25^th, 2011. Please come by and participate! More information can be found on the Academy’s website by clicking HERE as well as the AloHAA blog.

I am organizing a visit by socially engaged artist Toshiaki Tomita at the end of this month on O‘ahu. He will be collaborating with local groups, schools and individuals during his stay in Honolulu to make new artworks that will be part of his latest magazine project titled “Living in Story.” We are planning for a number of walks including a night stick walk done with candles, drawing on plates that will be used in a performance with food and sharing family photo albums with discussion of the tragedies in Tohoku. He is being graciously hosted by the Intersections Visiting Artist program at the University of Hawai‘i and will be in Honolulu for the last week of April before going to big island for the first week of May. He will give a public lecture on Thursday, April 28th at the UH Mānoa Art Building Room 101 from 12 noon to 1pm. Please come by or contact me if you would like to get involved in this creative project!

I’m curating a fresh new exhibit in Honolulu opening this Sunday November 7th, 2010. Two artists from Tokyo will be visiting to set up works, give a lecture, and meet with the public. It will be a great opportunity for dialogue on the relationship between social and ecological environments in art.

I have been invited to do a site-specific installation in Sapporo for a group exhibition organized by Plus 1 at the Hongo Museum opening on September 11th. My work will be composed entirely of local soil pigments painted in the lobby of the museum. It will be my largest indoor soil drawing to date and it has been in the planning stages for almost a year now. I will also display works on paper in one of the second-floor galleries, and hold an artist workshop on the opening day from 13:00-16:00.

If you are in Hokkaido please come visit the exhibit! 

I will have a Solo Exhibition from July 3-23rd in Fujisawa, Japan at Kujira Space. I will do a site-specific installation with natural pigments on the wall, show works on paper and also display a new video work titled, “Mikan Story.” Its a beautiful two-story space with natural light so please come by. The opening will be on July 3rd from 4-6 pm and my artist workshop, “Let’s tell stories of Dirt!” will be held on July 10th from 1-3 pm.