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Hitotsutsumi
Production year: 2020-
Format: Installation
Size: variable
Material: cloth, wood, string, thread
"Hitotsutsumi" is participatory artwork in which visitors who come to a kimono accessory shop are wrapped in huge furoshiki (Japanese wrapping cloth) by an artist who impersonates the store's proprietress.
Visitors meet the artist, and she says that "this is a place where visitors are wrapped in furoshiki while communicating.".
Visitors who want to participate choose two of their favorite patterns from the large furoshiki and lay them out in the space. Then he/she/they go up on the tatami mats, unfold the two furoshiki together with the artist, and join the two furoshiki by tying them together with their hands.
The participants then sit on the furoshiki, which are three meters square in length and width, and assume the position in which they want to be wrapped. The position can be sitting, standing, or lying down.
The artist, who is the proprietress of the space, wraps the viewer according to the viewer's position, physique, and conversation, following the basic tying method of the furoshiki.
In this process, communication between the artist and the viewer takes place through the furoshiki. Through this collaboration and exchange, a simple furoshiki is transformed into a work of art called "Hitotsutsumi".
When the wrapping is finished, the artist takes a picture of the wrapping, prints it out on iron-printed paper, and gives it to the viewer, who cuts it with scissors, attaches it to the noren, and names the wrapping.
As the number of participants increases, the number of wrappings made by the viewers increases, and each wrapping becomes a symbol of the communication between the viewer and the artist. Each wrapping is a one-of-a-kind creation that is the result of communication between the viewer and the artist.
Three elements in the art work
Object.
The object of this work is the furoshiki. By creating with the artist a worldview of a kimono accessory shop lined with large furoshiki, he creates a space that is detached from everyday life, a space that viewers themselves can experience with peace of mind. The artist and the viewer create a space that is detached from everyday life, a space in which the viewer can experience and feel at ease. Furoshiki and cloth are familiar objects, but by using a size beyond the usual furoshiki, it is possible to create a space in which the viewer can experience and feel at ease. The use of furoshiki, or clothes, in sizes beyond the usual brings a surprise to the viewer, who sees the furoshiki wrap itself around the object. However, because the action itself is a familiar one of wrapping and being wrapped, the process of experiencing the cloth itself is easy to imagine, creating a sense of security. The "presence of being wrapped" by the viewer and the "presence of wrapping" by the creator compensate for the lack of a "presence of being wrapped" when wrapping something with a furoshiki, and the interaction generated by the communication between the two creates a sense of comfort in the furoshiki. The interaction that results from the communication between the two transforms the furoshiki into a work of art that is not merely an object but a "Hitotsutsumi" that combines the communication between the two and the furoshiki wrapping that is co-created by the two. The communication between the two and the co-created furoshiki wrapping transforms the furoshiki into a work of art.
The Viewer
The viewer of this work is the one who is wrapped in the furoshiki. They experience the work together with the artist, transforming the mere furoshiki into a work of art called "Hitotsutsumi" (one package). The viewer has the right to choose the pattern of the furoshiki in the space of the work and the position in which he or she is wrapped. This reduces the gap in experience between the artist and the viewer and creates a new and unique experience for the artist as well. After being wrapped, the viewer has an opportunity for reflection and output by naming his or her own wrapping from the experience of being wrapped, and the opportunity for reflection and objectivity gained in the process creates an opportunity to shift the experience into an experience.
Artist
The author of this work is the proprietress of a kimono accessory shop. As the proprietress, the artist creates the worldview of the work space with the object furoshiki and coordinates the experience. Through the experience together with the viewers, the artist transforms the furoshiki object into a work of art called "Hitotsutsumi" (one package). The artist cannot control the entire experience depending on the viewer's choice of furoshiki, body shape, or position. The artist gives the viewer the right to choose the pattern of the furoshiki and the position of his or her body, and the viewer himself or herself is the one who is challenged by the experience.
＜Exhibition History＞
December 2021: "Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music Graduate School Doctoral Program Examination Exhibition 2021" (The University Art Museum, Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music / Tokyo, Japan)
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