The time of Nawa -The Hollowness of Nawa
| Title of work: The time of Nawa -The Hollowness of Nawa | |
 |
Date: 1999.
4 ~9 Materials: Soil concrete,Sisal,Bamboo, reeds, Mixed Media Dimensions:w 6,7m x h 5,8m x d5.3 m Site:Mikata-cho Johmon Museum Park, Fukui,Japan Photo credit:Taira Iwakiri Commissioned by: Mikata town office I was invited to create the symbol monument for Mikata-cho Johmon Museum Park, as a site-specific public art intercommunicating with the architecture of the Mikata-cho Jomon Museum that was designed by Toshihito Yokouchi . I started to research the local potentiality such as the energy of the local people, the environment, the location and the history of Mikata town which is located in the north part of Kyoto and faces to the Japan Sea near five beautiful lakes. Environmental archeologists discovered one of the Johmon archeological sights in the town. Johmon was named after the Nawa ( rope )pattern because the people of the Johmon age made the oldest earthen vessels in the world on which Nawa were rolled and Nawa patterns were printed. The Johmon culture of this area was a civilization of the mountains, sea and lakes around 7000 years ago. They had universal wisdom about how to Co-live with nature and keep peace with great friendship.I think our civilization should learn from the Johmon culture and the spirit with which they respected the Nawa. |
 |
|
 |
|
| When the
two spirals face the central axis of hollowness similar to the DNA
of all living things, a Nawa is born. Nawa is a spiral energy which
inter-links the cosmos, the earth and all life. Nawa means oneness with variety and diversity, similar to the earth in the cosmos. I would like to express this meaning of Nawa. That is the life of the earth beyond universal time and the spirits of the Johmon people for the symbol monument titled the time of Nawa-the Hollowness of Nawa. I created the hollow space which was the fossilization of gigantic Nawa as if a spiral umbilical cord of the earth. When people go into the center of the space and see the sky and the stars from the bottom of the space, they become empty and tranquil. They find themselves going back to their own roots. I thought it was very important that they enjoy the art work space and find various elements in the local environment and be proud of it in the Jomon Museum Park. |
|
| I used the workshop system
for a part of the process when making it. For several days in the
summer, the local people collected the elements such as shells, pebbles,reeds
and bamboo from the lakes, mountain and seashore and we collaborated
making the layers of the soil wall with the local materials and colorful
soil from the different areas according to the old traditional technique
born more than 6000 years ago. As I found my own original technique
using soil and concrete to make the hollow space of the Nawa shape,
I could design large-scale architectural sculpture in the future.
Artist Dr. Mariyo Yagi August 3, 2000 |
 |
/ Park / art works / The world of MARIYO YAGI