Movement: 2024 Laboratory of Forest Art

 

Please follow the direction the eyes point,
by INO Ryoko.

This is the time of an annual art exhibition in the forest under the care of the GROUP the Creation and Voice of the Woods. It opens its door today, September 29, 2024. After nail-biting months for funding last year, they received the 11th Yokohama Hito Machi Design Award (“Yokohama People-Town Design Award”) for their contributions connecting city forest and locals, especially kids, through sharing art-creation process (; my post on September 8, 2024). It seems to me the prize has reassured their mission in the forest, which is “sharing joy of art in forest with lots of people.” I think we can find such atmosphere of the GROUP in this year’s installations. Without much ado, let me show you the works artists provide for this year’s show. The comments after the photos are provided by the author and shown in the forest.

Map for this year’s show

Weekend Marche provide us small objects
created by the artists.

Magnolia Garden
KANAI Toshikazu

“Four years ago, I created a work called "Garden of Fallen Trees" where a magnolia tree has grown considerably. I wondered if I could create another garden with this tree as the center, overlapping it with the previous garden. The fallen tree I used in the previous work has decayed considerably, but still retains traces. I dream of the dense forest air and time flowing through a transparent vessel, filling it like a fountain.”


Recycling - Plastic

CHIKADA Haruna

“BB bullets that came from outside the forests are now buried here and there as if they were part of the forest from the beginning. Apparently, some types decompose, but it still takes more than 10 years. Some of the ones I picked up were a little smaller. I don't know how many years ago they were buried, but perhaps they are in the process of decomposing. There are cycles in the forest that the people who brought them there cannot see.”


Recycling - Forest
CHIKADA Haruna

“The seasons change. The forest also changes. A year from now the forest will not be exactly the same. Are the changes in the forest this year big? Or small? How much of an impact climate change having? What is the probability of a mutation? Regardless of human evaluation, the forest will continue to change.”

Snake Garden
KANAI Toshikazu

“Last year, I found a large Yamakagashi snake right next to the "Ruined Boat" that I made three years ago. I had been feeling their presence for some time, so perhaps I had been building a boat on their dwelling. I traced my unexpected encounter with clay on the ruins of the boat.”

* Yamakagashi snake = Rhabdophis tigrinus, also known commonly as the tiger keelback.


Bust of a Tower Man
ISHIKURO Kazuo

“A bust of a tower man made from clay. Inside is a container for water, which can be used as a flower vase.”

And this year Ishikuro shows us
another tower man climbing up high.

... In the Forest
ASADA

“What is this thing that lives in the forest? It came? It went back? It went away? It was left there? What is it? Is it scary? Is it real? Is it fake? Does it move? What does it eat? Can it be eaten? Have fun, freely, and as you like please feel free to use your imagination!”

And near ASADA’s installation,
there are 3 objects by KIGA.

Walking companion
YOSHIKAWA Youichiro

“When I walk around town with "keyaki no SANPO" in my hands, the subtle vibrations and various sounds are transmitted from my hands and ears directly to my brain. It's like I've regained a little bit of my childhood before I learned to speak. The "Dragon's Beard" growing in the forest will be replanted to create a winding path and a large round garden. But after a year, the alley and round garden are buried undergrowth.”


Basic shape of life forms
HARADA Akatsuki

“If you look at the growth of grass and trees, their branches and leaves, from the root, you will see that they grow in a spiral. The nerves in the bodies of animals, including humans, also run in a spiral. Blood vessels and DNA are also connected in a twisted manner.
When I saw the way new shoots grow from a stump and grow, and the way ivy wraps around the trunk of a tree, I was reminded a never-ending fractal (self-similarity) shape. So I created this spiral shape in my workshop and installed it on a stump. The material I used was 2*4 lumber, a common building material.”


Study for bling-bling
KIGA Youko

“Why is it called imitation if it does not have the natural sparkle?
The techniques used to create imitation gemstones are amazing, and they appear to be as shiny as natural ones.
Shining things sometimes give the meaning of good luck or good luck charms, but does the imitation shine have the same effect?”


Bond (Wood connect)
HARADA Akatsuki

“It is not easy to transport dead forest tree once they have been cut down. Even if a tree has tattered bark, if you cut it into pieces to make it easier to transport, the center will still be solid. I tried connecting the logs with reinforcing iron bar. When I connected each piece with rebar stakes, I realized that it resembled the shape of a ‘Clamp.’
By using these wooden clamps to connect the logs in a circle, we can create a sturdy structure ... just what we need right now.”

Appearing Disappearing, by ISHIYAMA Katsuyuki

The pergola is now decorated
by objects made by kids in September.

And now WATABE Hisako invites visitors
to make “walls” of pergola by
knitting with whatever material you think
 it can be braided with Trachycarpus harvested in the forest.

Don’t you think all the installations this year has a feel of … movement? Anyway, maybe their activities are getting more notice this year. Near the venue, I passed by several groups of college kids (maybe) wondering which way to go for the exhibition. 😊

A Shaft of Light in Parallel World, by ENDOH Norio.

Life and Work in Satoyama, by David Winer

Summer Greetings from the Universe, ZAMA Kimihito

2024 the Laboratory of Forest Art will be held during September 29 – October 20 in the same forest of the previous years. Since there is no parking, a recommended access to the Forest is by bus. The most convenient transportation is a bus ride to Yokohama Zoorasia, from JR Nakayama 中山 Station, Sotetsu Tsurugamine 鶴ヶ峰 Station, or Sotetsu Mitsukyo 三ツ境 Station. (Timetables are here.) Get off the bus at the North Gate of Zoorasia that is the closest to the art exhibition entrance. When you leave the terminal stop of Zoorasia North Gate, go back a bit along the bus road, and on your left is the sign for the GROUP. From there enter the forest. The road is a relatively wide walking promenade. Soon you can see a big banner over there saying “the Creation and Voice of the Woods 創造と森の声.”

When you find a problem in the site introduced in this post, the best contact address will be GROUP the Creation and Voice of the Woods.

https://morilab.amebaownd.com/
e-mail: morinokoe7@yahoo.co.jp

The city office which is in charge of this forest is

Office for the Park Greeneries in the North 北部公園緑地事務所
Yokohama Municipal Government Creative Environment Policy Bureau 横浜市環境創造局
Phone: 045-311-2016
FAX: 045-316-8420