rice becomes river

We loaded the rice straw under a tarp in the forest. Once I started making the installation though, it seemed that time was of the essence- any time it rains the color of the rice straw changes, so I wanted to get it all installed dry, then watch as it gradually changes and eventually becomes part of the soil (this might take 6 months or so). This week I worked on it for about four days straight. Luckily I had some wonderful help from Nicorai, and then Satoshi, being amazingly generous and kind, took some long breaks from painting to help me work. The work involved hauling the straw out into the site, unbundling it, and then, kneeling and squatting the whole time (very tough on the knees), laying it out to form ripples and flow of the “rice river” that winds for about 50 meters through the forest. Satoshi helped me all afternoon and then we hauled some boulders to the source of the river and created a small shrine there. Thankfully an old man walking by brought us a wonderful presento- a whole bag of “Real Gold” energy drinks and sweets, to give us energy for rolling rocks around.

The site is seen from above, and then people can walk (at their peril- its steep) down the hillside and follow a path along the river.

I’m making a second installation in the budokan (martial arts hall) at the high school- pictured here. I’m going to cover the whole floor with dark blue cloth, then the river will wind through the whole space. I am creating a waterfall out of washi paper with video projection, which will flow into the river. I’m hoping Mr. Mori can also help me to build a small bridge to cross the river. It might be a little like walking into a Japanese landscape painting, or it could be seen as some elements of a traditional garden created with new materials. We’ll see. This picture shows the budokan with some work in progress. I learned an important vocabulary word in this process: the Japanese word for tarp is “blue sheeto.”