dialogue/preservation | 2007
fabric, greasy dirt, audio equipment
H3700 W5500 D15000 (mm)
Kiryu City in Gunma Prefecture was once known as a city of fabric. There are many factories with saw-toothed roofs, but most are abandoned. I happened to meet people who were wrecking the weaving machines in the city and joined their work. The weaving machines that once filled the factory were all dismantled and taken away as scrap. Wrecking these weaving machines meant more than just breaking them apart. It seemed more like an encounter with the past. I recorded the sounds made by the wrecking of the machines as the metaphorical meaning of the tangled conversations between encounter and parting. I also carefully transferred the grease from every component of the machines onto the fabric and recorded their shapes and accumulated experiences. The fabrics are hung in a row with dim light and the sounds of wrecking echoed throughout the factory. This work is about destruction, but at the same time, preservation. The two seem to be conflicting ideas. But, throughout this workflow, all things seem to blend together and even conflicting ideas like “destruction” and “creation” can find equivalence.
