spirit of north

Voice from as Far land

In 2013, I was called to Kitakata, where the effects of the earthquake still remain.

Make a work here. But in the face of that situation, art felt powerless.

I thought of the ancestors who made this land.

Then, I asked him to look for an old chair used by a farmer and decided to carry it on his back and climb Mt. Iide.

After all, the act goes around four seasons, spring, summer, and autumn.

I decided to rebuild this storehouse as a "picture book storehouse" with the people I met.

We wanted to create the future.

Then, when I renewed the dirt floor of the picture book warehouse, I buried the chair I brought to Mt. Iide.

It's like a spell that wants to recreate the land.

Over the years, I decided to work with Scottish artist Gillian.

She sympathized with the story of this chair and proposed a new journey around it.

And we made chairs from the driftwood we found in the lands of both countries,

I went out with a tartan, a symbol of Scottish culture.

I heard that tartan is not just a pattern, but a symbol of the territory of the clan.

We felt the importance of listening to the voices of nature on the issues surrounding both lands.

The world is shaking greatly due to the influence of new viruses.

We didn't meet in person,

We had a dialogue, exchanged food from both lands, and went on a journey together.

Doing the same thing in a remote land.

Her voice and the sound of the forest flow from the dirt floor.

Japanese sounds are played in Scotland.

Even if we couldn't meet, we fostered a relationship of trust and experienced a wealth of time.

The effects of the new virus are expected to continue, but

We felt at ease in listening quietly and fostered new creativity.

I hope our modest actions will quietly resonate with someone.

The north is a distant land, but the land stands quietly.

Tatsushi Takizawa

It’s Gillian here, Gillian McFar land sending you this message from a Far Land.

I think this work investigates the nature of things, transitions in states of being and connections through responses to the passage of time. Thinking through making gives connections an attention and focus with enquiry and process impacting within our art making. This process connects both the viewer and maker with a material culture that invites our investigation of the archaeology of marks or objects. It grows a desire to draw closer, to connect in understanding, reflecting on influences from both science and the natural world. During the course of this project we have witnessed the travelling of this pandemic around the planet, and the manifestations of a climate catastrophe connecting us all.

We are a complex species on a small and vulnerable planet, which can seem frightening for the future of our kind.

Collaborating with you Tatsushi has been a joy, a voice from a far away land, somewhere I have never been, someone I have never met but reassuring in your sharing of ideas.With approaches that are both sympathetic but also challenging to my work, this transdisciplinarity creates wholeness through thinking across the geography.Through this project I have become connected to a world more interesting than before. A world far more united in its challenges of climate, of landscape, of economics, of spiritual and cultural beliefs and the health of all species.A world trying to understand the sum of all its parts.

Sharing thinking around what North might mean, and our considerations across cultures has fed intomy practice and caused a recalibration of my internal compass. I am drawn to collaborative working and processes and the freshness this brings to any research. Tatsushi - you seems to share a similar approach and a social practice that I can readily respond to. I am enjoying the places you are taking me to and thinking about where I can take you in this online collaboration and exchange.“ Geography begins at the only point we can be certain. It begins inside. And from there…arises a single question: Where am I? ” Malachy Tallack 60 Degrees North.

I hope you are well Tatsushi, I hope your family are well and I send you greetings from Scotland,

it's a Dreich day here.

Dreich is a Scottish word for weather that is cold and damp and the water is hanging in the air.

I hope your day is not as dreich as mine.

Gillian McFarLAnd

Kale porridge

I like to eat.

In the case of such an exchange exhibition, the most enjoyable thing is to go to the site, see the scenery of the area, and eat delicious food from the area. However, this time I couldn't go or call.

This does not increase motivation. So I suggested to Gillian, "Let's eat together first," and started by exchanging ingredients and recipes. Ingredients for "porridge" arrived from Scotland, and ingredients for "kozuyu" were sent from Japan. It seems that porridge is usually boiled in milk and topped with honey and fruits. Not bad, but it doesn't seem to fit in with Japanese breakfast. Therefore, I raised the seeds of kale from Shetland, which was also sent to me, and arranged it into a Japanese-style recipe using bonito stock and soy milk.

The English translation of "Kikurage," which is the ingredient of "Kozuyu" sent to Jillian, seems to be "cloud ears," and Jillian liked it. So, I went to the mountain, collected wood ear mushrooms, and made a wood ear mushroom dish. This time, starting from this "cloud ear", various things associated with it are arranged at the venue.

What we focused on this time was the environment surrounding us. That includes our bodies. Observing and ingesting nature, we are made. Obviously, this time it was a collaboration that felt it politely. Expressing, cooking, and eating.

I like to eat.

Tatsushi Takizawa

To the <north> of the spirit 2021

Where the two streams meet

Confluence of North: Spirit of North

2021. 6.8-6.26 Perth Creative Exchange

021.10.3-10.16 Minamimachi, Kitakata City, Fukushima Prefecture / Twenty-story warehouse, picture book warehouse, Minamimachi 2850

2021.10.23-10.29 Nishiaizu International Art Village

2021.10.23-11.27 An Lanntair

To the north of the spirit 2021

Confluence of North Spirit of North 2021

TATSUSHI TAKIZAWA