Update: 2026 Laboratory of Forest Art

 

CHIKADA Haruna

A week later for the originally planned opening party, the GROUP the Creation and Voice of the Woods held an opening party + art tour by the artists. This week I tell you about the artist’s comment for their own work. (The original note shown at each installation is my post for September 20).

1. encounter
ISHIKURO Kazuo

Ishikuro-san said originally he does not want to demolish his tower man for Hadano after their show, and decided to make him/her a neighbor of another tower man in the forest for the GROUP. He then found some forest story that goes on with the new situation. Could you feel that?

2. A Boat Made of White Oak Branches
KANAI Toshikazu

After working in this forest for years, Kanai-san said he became more familiar to the creatures in the forest, like that magnolia tree next to his boat, or the snakes gathering in a sunny open space created by his thinning to make room for another boat. His work becomes more and more the 21st century version of Noah’s Arc.

3. Where the Gaze Is Directed
CHIKADA Haruna

Chikada-san has changed her tack this year for her installation by not-using BB bullets. But she said in any way she did not want to shout loud about environmental destruction by survival gamers. She said she always wanted to nudge the spectators to move the point of view from a familiar “me” to that of the entire environment. For that, mirror is a useful tool. In this year’s installation, mirrors reflect the canopy of the forest above AND you who look her work. Finding yourself on the surface of fallen tree, what would you think?

4. relationship like this in the cockpit.
ASADA

ASADA-san plans to add another crew next year for the cockpit of spaceship earth. For more detail of this growing population of spaceship, please check the movie from the QR code below.

5. Here
YOSHIKAWA Youichiro

According to Yoshikawa-san, to retrieve the feature of “ownerless garden” of dwarf lilyturfs it took almost a month of weeding sasa bamboos and brackens. In addition, several cherry trees surrounding his “garden” fell during these several months. He speculated the aging of the forest was rapidly progressing. His toil for maintaining “ownerless garden” itself is becoming more and more a creative process in a fast-moving environment. Let us see how the things turn out …

6. Layer 2209 or 2232
KIGA Youko

2209 and 2232 are frequency these wind chimes emit. For Kiga-san using the space in this forest is very free. Her creativity can fly without enclosing walls. Her intention was about the free “space” in the forest, but I noticed the sound of chimes can waft out from the forest to the commuter road running along the forest. Her chimes are expanding beyond the forest.

7. BOND+ (connecting logs +)
HARADA Akatsuki

Harada-san noticed by working this project for several years by now, the originally “all-sturdy” log structure has begun to show variegated development regarding its decay. Some parts have so-so puffy logs, while another part is forever solid. He situated on the top of the structure the twigs harvested from the forest, painted them white and connected them together. It looks like people holding hands and support the entire building even if a part of it is decaying. That’s a sort of symbolism for something …

8. Pergola Gallery

When the GROUP started 20 years ago, the members of the secretariat were art lovers who responded to the help-wanted appeal for art show in a forest. Many already had created their art works, if not professionally. Since then, they contributed to the show little by little that left their installations in the forest as the artists for the annual show. Some brought in the works made by users of special needs center in Yokohama. The others created the installations with kids from local after-school childcare centers. And the other found the thinned oaks by the artists attractive to make his own art work in the forest. This part of the forest is for the secretariat people. I found the Gallery is full of fun! Please enjoy.

The closing for this year’s show is on October 18. There again will be an Art Tour from 11:00. After the bento-lunch (RSVP from email below), they will have a concert by Thomassons + Akaciq in the forest. For both parties, you can bring your own lunch. It is free of charge just for attending the parties. There will be a small “Marche” on the closing day to raise funds for their activity. In addition, on October 4th from 11:00 they specially arrange an Art Tour for kids and their guardians. This event has a limited seat for 10 kids and it will cost 500 yen per kid (for insurance charge). RSVP.

2026 the Laboratory of Forest Art is held during September 20 – October 18 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. 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

Zoo Division 動物園課
Yokohama Municipal Government Green Environment Bureau 横浜市みどり創造局

Phone: 045-671-4124
FAX：045-550-4650
email: mk-satoyama-garden@city.yokohama.jp