Photo: Yasuhiro Chida
Extension labyrinth/La Chartreuse, Avignon, France
2018
Glass bottle, Water, LED
D:2m x W:2m x H:3m
This work, shown at La Chartreuse in Avignon, France, was composed of water lenses and echoes within the space. Four glass bottles, each with a hole on one side and an LED light attached to it, were suspended horizontally to a vertical metal structure. Water dripped from the structure to the uppermost bottle, and when a drop of water caused the water inside the bottle to reach a critical amount, a droplet fell to the bottle below. This continued on to the third and fourth bottles until Finally, a waterdrop reached a suikinkutsu (glass-vessel Japanese water harp) placed on the Floor. When the waterdrops dripped into the bottles, the surfaces rippled and created subtle sounds. The water in the bottles that manifested semicircular, cylindrical forms functioned as cylindrical lenses, and projected linear lights on the floor, which wavered due to the water ripples. Thus, the four linear lights that derived from the four bottles created a square form along the joints of the tile floor.
This exhibition room was the sole place in the former monastery where monks were allowed to speak. But the room was designed so that the echoes of voices lingered in order to avoid having several people talk simultaneously. Thus, even though the sounds of the waterdrops were almost inaudible, the lingering effect made it possible for the viewers to hear the sounds quite clearly. Via the dripping sounds and the lights, the two attributes of this space were connected̶the echoes produced by the dome ceiling and the checkered-pattern floor. (T. N.)
残響と水のレンズによる作品。側面に穴の開けられた４つのガラスボトルが構造体から水平に吊り下げられ、それぞれのボトルにはLEDが一灯取り付けられている。構造体から最上部のボトルに水が滴り落ち、一滴の水によって臨界量に達すると、次のボトルへと水滴が落ちる。それが繰り返され、床に置かれたガラスで作られた水琴窟に達する。ボトルの水面に落ちる水滴は、水面を揺らし微かな音を生む。半円筒形状の水はシンドリカルレンズとなり、滴る水滴に揺れる、光の線を投影する。４つのボトルによる４本の光の線は、床のタイルの目地に沿って、四角を描く。
展示室は、かつて修道士が話すことを許された唯一の部屋で、複数人が同時に話すことが出来ないよう、残響が長くなる設計がされている。水滴の作る音は非常に微かで、この部屋の残響特性によって初めて聞くことが出来る。天井のドームが生み出す残響と床の市松模様―この部屋の２つの個性―を音と光によって結び付けた。