Installation at Nuchishinuji Cave

[morito yoshida]

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Installation at Nuchishinuji Cave (Ishikawa-City, Okinawa Prefecture,
Japan)
By Morito
7th Dec. 2002 15th Dec. 2002

Nuchishinuji Cave

Nuchishinuji Cave is a natural limestone cave, formed by the sea. 
Such caves, or gama, can be found all over Okinawa Island. Locals 
have been using the spring water inside caves since the old times. 
For the nature-respecting people of Okinawa, caves have also served 
as a place of prayer. Furthermore, during WWII, civilians found 
shelter inside the gama.

In Nuchishinuji Cave, the location of this installation, not a single 
person died during the Battle of Okinawa (a fact reflected in its 
name, Nuchishinuji). The cave became the starting point of the people 
who hid inside, and hence survived the fierce fighting of the Battle 
of Okinawa. And now as always, Nuchishinuji Cave continues to watch 
over all events happening there.

In this installation project, we would like to make Nuchishinuji Cave 
a place for communicating to visitors phenomena such as the 
continuous flow of time, the unconscious and the circle of life.

The Installation

The installation will comprise:
l plants
l flames of candles and pig-fat
l mirrors
l doll-shaped objects
l a room made out of mirrors that can be entered by up to two people 
at once only

The doll-shaped objects, in various sizes, will be spread all over 
the cave. The visitors will be able to both react to and interact 
with these objects. For example, visitors could touch them, sit on 
them, lie on them or play with them. Whilst doing so, visitors will 
be able to feel the change of time, from past to present to future, 
the lives of the people, and the events that have taken place inside 
the cave. We act and react based on the experiences we have gained 
from our own histories, and based on the histories of the societies 
we live in. Also, we act and react to the way such histories are 
represented to us in the present. The doll-shaped objects will become 
mediums through which visitors may experience the flow of time. The 
doll-shaped objects could make visitors feel comfortable or they may 
even cause fear.

These doll-shaped objects are made out of sheets, dyed using the 
leaves of the fukugi tree. The fukugi  (written with the Chinese 
characters for luck and tree) is a very common tree in Okinawa. It is 
usually planted around houses to protect them from storms. The sheets 
will be stuffed with newspapers. Newspapers can be interpreted as 
collective diaries, telling the stories of communities and societies.

Plants from outside will be placed within the small stream flowing 
through Nuchishinuji Cave. The plants will represent living beings 
from outside the cave, changing through the time of the installation, 
since their new environment will be different from the ones they 
usually can be found in.

The flames of the candles and the pig-fat will cause shadows on the 
walls and the floor of the cave. They will tell us of how our lives 
are made up of light and shadow. The bright part of the light will 
interact with the darker part of the shadow. They are inherently one, 
both relating to each other and causing each other. Looking at it 
from a larger perspective, the point where the light and the shadow 
become one can be said to be history experienced in the past.

The mirrors placed inside the cave will project new spaces. A new 
world, opposite from the actual one, will be created there. The 
mirrors are medias to represent, and for visitors to visualize and 
experience, the space inside and outside the cave. Mirrors are called 
kagami in Japanese. The word for shadow is kage and a form of the 
verb  to see is mi. Mirrors were used in shrines in ancient Japan and 
have also been used as amulets, releasing the memories of the people 
they once belonged to, projecting them into the present.

Inside the cave, the room made out of mirrors will not only 
physically reflect the cave, but it will be a symbol for the union of 
nature and human beings. Okinawan tombs are called Kamekoubaka as 
they look like turtles. The reason for this design is due to the 
belief that people are born of their mother's womb to return there in 
death. The room made of mirrors will also represent this concept.

Artists Profile


Morito
Born on Sado Island, Niigata Prefecture, Japan
Teaching Digital Creation at Naha College of Information Systems
Continuously publishing art works using various medias and locations
www.azzlo.com/morito


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Love...Infinity
morito yoshida
URL:http://www.azzlo.com/morito/index.html
E-mail:morito at n-cis.ac.jp
or morito at tontonme.ne.jp(home)
or morito5 at docomo.ne.jp(mover mail)
or moritoy at hotmail.com(free mail)
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