JOURNALS

Norway, early in spring

In January, with my collaboration in Tokyo with Eva completed, I was alone again, and absorbed in my work night and day throughout February. March flew by even faster. Having sent off my things by cargo, completed the final preparations for the exhibition and dashed to catch the plane I slept, exhausted, most of the way to London where I had to change planes. I had recovered my energy by the time I landed in Norway, and set off on the airport train to the station where I was to meet Eva. It wasn’t until I was looking at the snowy landscape from the train that I actually felt myself to be in Oslo. Shortly after arriving at her house, Eva and I decided to take a walk together. We went to the place where Eva swims in the summer. It was a different world of ice and snow. Despite this the people, wrapped up warmly, were still out enjoying themselves. Instead of swimming, people and dogs were ambling on the surface of the water which was now thick with ice and snow. Where there had been barbeques, now I could see people reading books in pools of sunshine or chatting with their friends. The yachts were lying as if asleep under plastic sheeting, the scenery was coloured in silent monotones. However, in the sunlight that occasionally beamed down I could sense that Norway’s spring was just around the corner.
That day, Eva and I spent some time discussing carefully our collaborative installation. It was not true to say that we had no anxieties about our first piece created together, or how to create the space as we intended with the pieces that we made in Tokyo but we were excited and looking forward to visiting Galleri F15 once more.

I arrived at Galleri F15 ahead of Eva. My heart was full of emotions and expectations about meeting the other people at the gallery again and finally putting together the exhibition. During the process of putting up an exhibition there are always some problems, cares and confusion, and you feel some tension, but despite that I think that there is a sense of satisfaction and elation at that time as a new relationship between the completed works and the exhibition space is created.
The first task was to check whether or not the plans I had made were OK and how I should display my solo piece in the space. Artists meet the technicians for the first time at the stage of setting up the exhibition, so we have to make them appreciate the characteristics of the works, and things do not always go smoothly as they deal with the demanding artists.  We all work very hard. This time, we had the support of two fantastic technicians who were both skilled and personable so the installation process went very well and surprisingly smoothly. They considered the pieces carefully getting to know them well and consulted us as they positioned the pieces in the gallery. I will never forget them both and their warm-heartedness and competence.

After the second floor exhibit was completed, I stood looking in the middle of the space alone in the twilight. Beyond the grey of the room and the installation, a dark blue square stood out like a cut-out. Before the dark of night fell the sky was still covered in the blue of noontime. The fresh air of the sea and forests, the clear light and the bustle of the towns that calmed me when I was in Norway before came back to me again. I felt a sensation between calmness and solitude that may be unique to northern countries, that does not fade even in the bright colourfulness of summer. I did not set out consciously to create something that encompassed elements of these sights and feelings, but in my exchanges with Eva, I spent my time consciously trying to value the many encounters and things I have garnered through this project. For a moment I felt extremely satisfied that I had been able to complete this project as one of my responses to this. The piece itself was an experiment with a different way of weaving, I was aware that there were still some issues that remained; I think that you never feel completely satisfied with your work. However, in that brief moment, I felt honestly grateful that my heart was full of relief and pleasure. Then I realised the sky had quickly become dark outside the window.

"Calm Correspondence". Photo: Øystein Thorvaldsen

The following day, I finished some other tasks and then set to work to complete the collaborative piece with Eva who had arrived. We assembled the piece dividing up the work between us discussing it as we went. We had agreed on the ideas and we worked together making decisions step by step along the way about things such as the pieces we had made separately, the arrangement of the photographs that had been ordered, the colour of the gallery room that we had asked for, checking each detail as we went along until it was completed. 
As it was the first time that this had been assembled in the gallery, we realised little by little that there were some parts which were much more interesting that we had expected, but that there were problematic points that needed consideration and some technical issues. For me the most important thing was that we were able to bring to life a scene that I could not have created if I had not been part of this project. The purpose of this project was a reflection of the encounters between two artists and two cultures, we worked hard to show our results within this single piece of work and to some degree I believe we achieved it. In particular, of all the ideas that came out of our discussions in the two weeks we spent together during the summer. I believe that the use of a fresh pink in a number of the textiles was particularly effective; this colour is the colour of the oceans enveloping our planet when they do not have enough oxygen and was intended to include a warning signal. People who look carefully may notice that the fabric is see-through, and the pink colour looks as though it is shining but the textiles which were made using various techniques are not obvious immediately. You can experience the details only when you peer in. It silently enquires about what direction development and progress are going, what is development, what is important for us, have we lost something of value as a trade-off? If people who experience the pieces stop for a moment and think “What is this? What does it mean?” that would be good. For myself, these works also made me look and think more carefully, and I reflected on more simple things inside myself. 

During the exhibition work at Galleri F15, I was most impressed by the hard work put in by the other artists, Gabriella and Shimada-san, Anniken and Agano-san. They touched my heart. In the morning, we gathered at the gallery and worked together over several days. In the breaks we ate and drank tea together. We didn't deliberately discuss things and nothing in particular happened. Mr. Shimada mentioned that he and Gabriella had a comfortable distance, and this was something similar. As the work around us was nearing completion, we carried on with our own work, the good thing about group exhibitions is the way that various spaces begin to work together and resonate with each other. Two different people sharing the process together was a fruitful experience for us and taught us many things about how doing things alone gives different results.

Finally, the Cultex opening. For the artists, the opening is a brief, beautiful moment of reward, the moment the art work which is the product of one person’s internal struggle connects with the outside world for the first time. I still hold number of memories in my heart; the warmth of the opening ceremony by the F15 staff, the smiles of the technicians and other staff, the attendance of many visitors, meeting again the three Norwegian people that I had met last year, the pleasure that Kari of the Tokyo Norwegian embassy expressed, the way that Japanese ambassador and the embassy staff looked carefully at all the pieces. I am looking forward to see how it will be received in the future as we go on the next location and have new encounters. We have the kind support of many people in both Japan and Norway to thank for this good start to the exhibition. I would like to express my deepest thanks to them.