Commissioned by Katsurao Collective Artist in Residence, Fukushima, Japan
- Exhibited at Hikarie gallery8, Tokyo, Japan 5th Aug-17th Aug 2023
Katsurao Collective Artist in Residence, Open Studio Day 27-29 Feb 2023
デンキノカミサマ
この作品は、福島県双葉郡葛尾村での滞在中に制作されました。2011年の原発事故後、村全体が避難されましたが、避難指示が解除されてから住民たちが戻ってきました。失われたものを取り戻すような作品ではなく、震災後に、震災があったからこそ新しく葛尾村に現れたものに着目し、見え方の転換、自然と共存する方法を探求しました。（真の意味での自然は人間に対して無関心で冷酷であり、人間を脅かすものです）
葛尾村の新しいものは
①「線量計」
県外から来た私にとっては線量計が村中にあることが珍しく、機械は放射線量の数値を示しているのに、実態は見えない。「見えないけどいる、いるけど見えない。」存在を感じる。しかし、村の人々は淡々と生活し、共存している。存在を感じながら共存するところがカミサマのようだと感じた。
②「葛尾電力会社」
震災後、村全体に太陽光発電を資源として電力を供給する「葛尾電力」という会社が設立され、将来起こり得る緊急事態も考慮してエネルギーの自給自足を目指しています。葛尾電力はケーブル配線の問題でしばし停電を経験することがあるとされています。 かつて地域の結束を強化した祭り文化が災害の影響で無くなってしまった村で、村民全員が一緒に体験する停電の発生が新たな意義を持つ可能性を考えました。弱まったコミュニティの絆の再構築に寄与するイベントとして、住民間の集合的な記憶の形成を促す役割を果たすかもしれません。 太陽の光など自然と密接に結びついたコミュニティシステムにおいて、人間の技術を通じてさえ神と共存しているという感覚があります。（祭り文化の中心には、自然の制御不能な力の中に神々の存在を認識し鎮めようとすることがあります）
もし人間が自然の一部と見なされるなら、人間の創り出したテクノロジーもまた、「八百万」の考え方の一部となり得るでしょうか？ *「八百万」 - すべてのものに内に神を持つとし、自然と共存する考えを表す神道の理論
このプロジェクトでは、私は三つの神を葛尾村で捕まえました。それは「太陽光由来の電気の神」「原子力由来の電気の神」「（人工的）中性子の神」です。これらの神々は架空の存在であり、電力の供給がないと訪れることの出来ないメタバースの神社に祀られています。
また、日本の神話から神々の系譜を借用し、電気の神々の系譜を追跡できるようにしました。その中には、この３柱の神の他にも電気の時代に生きる私たちと共存する新しい神の名前も表しています。
*展示されていない時は、VR空間のデータはUSBメモリに保存され、見えない神と同様に存在しない神社のような外観を持っています。
協力感謝：葛尾村の村民の皆さま, Katsurao Collective, 葛尾電力, 葛尾村づくり公社
滞在制作前に訪れた伊勢市, 皇學館大学, 伊勢クリエーターズワーケーション
DENKINOKAMISAMA - meaning, 'Gods of Electricity'
This work was produced during the residency in Katsurao Village, Futaba County, Fukushima. The entire village was evacuated after the nuclear accident in 2011, but villagers have returned since the alert was lifted. Rather than trying to recover what was lost, the project focused on what newly appeared in Katsurao Village after the disaster, and attempted to shift the way of seeing and to search for a way of coexistence with nature. (Nature in the true sense is indifferent, callous and frightening to humans)
New things in Katsurao Village:
(i) Dosimeters
For me, coming from outside the village, it is unusual that there are dosimeters all over the village; the machines show the radiation levels, but radiation is invisible. 'You can't see it but it’s there.' I feel the invisible presence. However, the villagers live everyday life without hesitation. I felt that the way they coexist while feeling the existence is like that living with Shinto gods.
For me, coming from outside the village, it is unusual that there are dosimeters all over the village; the machines show the radiation levels, but radiation is invisible. 'You can't see it but it’s there.' I feel the invisible presence. However, the villagers live everyday life without hesitation. I felt that the way they coexist while feeling the existence is like that living with Shinto gods.
(2) Katsurao Electricity Company
After the earthquake, a company called Katsurao Denryoku, which supplies electricity to the entire village using solar power as a resource, was established in order to become energy self-sufficient, taking into account emergencies that may occur in the future. Katsurao Denryoku is said to often experience power cut-offs.
After the earthquake, a company called Katsurao Denryoku, which supplies electricity to the entire village using solar power as a resource, was established in order to become energy self-sufficient, taking into account emergencies that may occur in the future. Katsurao Denryoku is said to often experience power cut-offs.
In a village where the festival culture, which once strengthened the unity of the community, has been affected by the disaster, I pondered whether the occurrence of power outages could take on a new significance. It might serve as an event that fosters the formation of collective memories among the villagers, given the potential for weakened community bonds.
There is a sense of coexisiting with god in the community system that is established closely with nature, such as sunlight, even through human technology. (At the heart of the festival culture is the recognition of the presence of deities within the uncontrollable forces of nature)
If humans are seen as part of nature, can human-made technology also be part of the idea of ‘Yaoyorozu ’?
*The concept of "Yaoyorozu no Kami" (八百万の神, literally "eight million gods") is a fundamental aspect of Shinto, Japan's indigenous spirituality. It signifies an infinite number of deities inhabiting natural elements such as mountains, rivers, trees, and rocks, as well as abstract concepts like fertility and protection, and emphasizes the idea of co-existing with nature.
In this project, I've created three deities: the "God of Electricity from Solar Energy," the "God of Electricity from Nuclear Power," and the "God of Neutron." These deities are fabricated and enshrined in a VR Metaverse shrine that can only be accessed with electricity.
Using the genealogy of deities from Japanese mythology, I've enabled the tracking of the ancestry of the Gods of Electricity. These deities represents a novel entity that appears to us in the age of electricity.
*When not on display, the data of the VR space is stored on a USB memory stick, giving it the appearance of a nonexistent shrine, much like an unseen deity.
Special Thanks to: Katsurao Village, Katsurao Collective, Katsurao Denryoku, Katsurao Muradukuri Kousha
Ise-city where I visited for research before the residency starts, Kogakkan University, Ise Creators Workation
A family tree map of gods from Japanese Mythology
- The gods newly captured in this project have also been incorporated into this map
電柱鳥居
チュウセイシノカミ
葛尾村の電柱
クニノヒムスイカヅチデンキノカミ
アゼリア前の石碑
ワールド作成中
葛尾村キャラクター しみちゃん
葛尾村キャラクター しみちゃん
Katsurao Collective Air Open Studio
genealogy (family) tree
参拝中
