敷地は茨城県のひたちなか市のとある港町に佇む小さな小屋である。今年の春ようやくオーナーは古い小屋を取り壊す事を決めた。決定的だったのは、一昨年のこの地域を襲った津波だったという。同じ時期にアートイベントで利用する休憩所の会場を探していた我々は、この小屋を借り受けて簡単な改装をする事にした。

　地元の学生に集めてもらった葉っぱを使ってワークショップを行った。大量の葉っぱを押し花の様にプレス乾燥させ、錆びたトタン板の壁に磁石で貼付けた後、吹き付け塗装を施した。葉っぱを剥がすと、まるで古い記憶を写し取ったかの様に古い壁面のテクスチャーが現れる。さらに剥がした葉っぱは、モビールとして再利用し、建物の形をトレースするように設置する事にした。

　震災の傷跡が残るこの港町の夏のイベントの間、建物の記憶を写し取った葉っぱのモビールは、風鈴の様に僅かな空気の動きを受けて揺らめき、小さな休憩所にささやかな涼しさを与えてくれている。

Shed of leaf mobile  - ghost in the leaf -

The project is an intervention of an aged shed situated in a small port town of Hitachinaka city, Ibaraki.

The owner finally decided to demolish this rusty timeworn shed this spring. The finishing blow that determined its fate was the tsunami that devastated the area two years ago. We, who were looking for a location for a kiosk for an art event which was booked for the same timing as the demolition, decided to borrow this shed and add a bit of face-lift for its twilight days.

Using leaves collected by local students, we held an art workshop. We press-dried the leaves as you would to make dry flower, attached them to the rusted corrugated wall by magnets and spray-painted over them. When these leaves are then peeled off, the pre-existing texture of the old building becomes revealed almost as if the old memory is excavated along with it. We would then use the leaves that were peeled off as a part of a kinetic art. Leaves are placed all around the shed as if to retrace the shape of the building.

For the duration of the summer art event in this small port town which still the scar of the earthquake disaster remains, the leaves mobile that has replicated the memory of the building passively sways with the slight air movement giving a sense of coolness to this small resting kiosk like a “ Fulin ”(Japanese glass wind chime).