Kazuko Aono - THE TREE OF CALM MOUNTAIN, WORKS BY YOSHIHIRO SUDA
The two Magnolia Grandiflora trees that stand in the front garden of the Hara Museum can be said to be the museum's symbol trees. Spreading grandly over the approach from the front gate and the porch, they have been there since the museum buildings were first constructedas a private house in 1938, bearing witness to their subsequent history.During the twenty years since the buildings were converted to house the Hara Museum, the trees have continued to grow, bringing forth sweet-smelling, yet vibrant, flowers early each summer.I do not think it is a coincidence that the subject which Yoshihiro Suda, the artist invited to present his work in Hara Documents 6, chose Magnolia Grandiflora as the motif of his latest work.Thirty years old this year, Yoshihiro Suda was born and brought up in Yamanashi Prefecture where as a boy, he made it a habit to sketch the beautiful scenery around his home everyday. Having moved to Tokyo originally to attend university, he remains constantly aware of thecontrast between the rich natural beauty of his hometown and the vast consumer city that is Tokyo. That was why, when he noticed some weeds growing on a street corner in the Ginza area while commuting to work, he saw in them a tiny reflection of nature and it was perhaps onlynatural that he should decide to utilize them in his work. However, the methodhe chose to realize this was extremely bold and fresh. In 1993, he held his first one-manexhibition, entitled "Ginza Weed Theory", in a small wheeled hut that he had constructed himself.From the outside, the hut appeared a rather kitsch, galvanized-iron structure, but the interior was covered in gold leaf, in a manner reminiscent of the golden tea room created by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the sixteenth century, and in the front was a realistic wooden sculpture of a single blossom of a weed that is commonly found growing in Ginza $B!= (Bwandering cudweed (gnaphalium pensylvanicum willd) $B!= (Bin its way evocative of the single blossom of morning glory that the tea master, Sen-no-Rikyu, once displayed.(1)The artist spent six days pulling this "work" around the Ginza area which is famous for its art galleries, stopping at coin operated car parks for one hour at a time and displaying the interior on the street. This work is now on display on the 2F balcony of the Hara Museum and when we consider that he said that this work began as "a repudiation of the particularly Japanese system of rental galleries," he probably finds it ironic that this same "Ginza Weed Theory", that was to form the foundation for his future work, should now be shown within the art museum system. However, Suda's work has always appeared to be very difficult to capture within the existing framework of art history. His works remain impossible to classify, leap beyond existing systems, hierarchies or categories to summon in the next age. Systems are born, established, then destroyed to make way for new systems and art museums, galleries, even art itself are all part ofa system and as such, prone to change.At the heart of Suda's work there is generally an extremely accurate, life-size wooden sculpture of a plant, created with such surpassing skill as to make it indistinguishable from the real thing. These everyday flowers or overlooked weeds are placed in bold, yet delicate installations thatlure us in, and focusing on the plant we are able to discover slight traces of the hand of their creator. The moment we realize that they are such delicate creations that the slightest touch would cause them to scatter to the ground, we instinctively hold our breath. We experience the powerful beauty of destruction while simultaneously, as we enter into the aesthetic, yet definitely not natural space that Suda has produced, we are seized by feeling of unease and confusion as it appears that everything around us is a fabrication. All our senses struggle to validate and confirm the place in which we are standing. The works of Yoshihiro Suda invite the viewerinto this state and try to begin a new dialog with them. The space he creates always welcomes the gaze of an outsider; in fact, it is through this premise that they take on their existence.In the past, Yoshihiro Suda used the word "Ma" in the title of his exhibitions.(2) The word "Ma" is a concept unique to Japanese culture stemming from an age when people did not differentiate between time and space and indicates the mutual relationship between the two. It can be said that he wants to create a world of expression where the moment of resonance between the "Ma" and the image of the work are trapped forever in the memory of the viewer. In addition, the artist has a strong interest in Buddhist images within temples as well as in traditional Japanese culture and it is interesting to see the way that these aesthetics find their way into the unique techniques he uses in his work.I would like now to give a brief description of the new work he has created for this exhibition which fills three rooms. First he has placed a single fruit of the Magnolia Grandiflora within a green space that represents the dense leaves of the tree. The bright red seed in the fruit can be interpreted as representing hope for rebirth (creation) of the next generation. In the next room, we see the root of the tree with a weed pushing up from the gaps between the old base boards. This room is described as "relaxed tension"(3) and allows the viewer to receive anew animpression of the existing space and time while simultaneously allowing them to appreciate the depth of the artist's feeling towards the little things like weeds or roots that tend to remain unnoticed. In the final section, he has copied the curved wall that is a unique facet of thearchitecture of the Hara Museum, to create a temporary, narrow, corridor-like room within the gallery, at the end of which is placed a Magnolia Grandiflora blossom in full bloom. As Imentioned earlier, these flowers are very beautiful, but although they represent the strength of an extremely ancient species of tree, they are themselves very short-lived. The shadow of the flower can be seen outside through the thin Japanese paper of the wall and one of the challenge in creating this exhibition was to position the shadow so that it appeared to be of equal status to the actual work. In this way, the artist has attempted to create an installation representingthree aspects of the Magnolia Grandiflora that resonate with the "Ma" of the Hara Museum while putting it on a footing to interact with the gaze of the viewer. It will be interesting to see how this work speaks to us and to the space in which it will stand during the limited period of two monthsthat this exhibition will last, and to see what memories it weaves in us all.The Magnolia Grandiflora that Yoshihiro Suda has created is at this very moment ready to bloom.1. The sixteenth- century warlord, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, was a student ofSen-no-Rikyu, the man who perfected the form of tea ceremony which sets great importanceon simplicity and tranquillity. However, the tearoom he built for himself inside Osaka castle was made entirely of gold. For his part, when Sen-no-Rikyu invited Hideyoshi to his six-foot square tearoom named "Taian," it is said that he picked all the morning glories that were blooming in the garden hedge, and then chose a single blossom to adorn the alcove in the room.2. 1997 Galerie Wohnmaschine (Berlin) "Ma and Rose", 1997 and 1999, Gallery Koyanagi (Tokyo) "Ma".3. This is quoted from the artist's comments during discussions on the plan for this exhibition.When the artist first presented his plans for this room, there was a certain amount of bewilderment, but remembering the words of Zeami, "The lack of intention is what makes it interesting" and having great expectations for the artist in the future, we agreed to go along with it.Recently, my actions appear to be increasingly under the control of a power which nobody can explain, whose existence nobody can deny, destiny. Magnolia Grandiflora is a tree in which I have long felt an interest, but it was not until the present exhibition that I actually used it as thesubject for my work. However, when I visited the Hara Museum after they had asked me to produce work for an exhibition, I saw the huge Magnolia Grandiflora trees standing in front of the entrance and knew immediately what my motif would be. At the time, the trees were still in bud and I am sure that if I had not been approached by the Hara Museum, particularly at that time of year, this work would never have been realized and would still be floating around unattended in some dark corner of my mind. I do not know whether destiny brought me to the Magnolia Grandiflora, to the Hara Museum or to some other, as yet unknown object. All I do know, however, is that this work is a direct result of this destiny.
Yoshihiro Suda, Translated by Gavin Frew
Kazuko Aono Curator, Hara Museum of Contemporary Art