The joy of loosely held plans_02

I’m walking in the direct sun, toward the Yamaguchi Sawmill. There is no shade to be had, no lateral hopscotching to be done. It is insufferably hot, humid, still air. This sawmill was recommended to me by Wan Shiyu, a Chinese artist living in Japan who had a wood sculpture exhibition in Koganecho’s Gallery-A. We were nerding out on a mutual love of trees, wood and the smell of hinoki when I showed her pictures of the natural wood speakers I plan to build for the fall exhibition, and she told me about Yamaguchi.  

 KocoGarden is in the 2025 fall exhibition, three years running. This outing to Yamaguchi is regarding paragraph ii of a list of loosely held plans for said exhibition, as shared in the previous issue.  

ii. Another loosely held plan is to build a natural wood speaker system for the back wall. I’d like it to eventually be interactive by way of a drift wood sculpture/control surface.

 I recorded the rest of the trip on Instagram (@br0ken_w1ng). It was the first time I had done any kind of social media in…a very long time. For those not on social media, here's what it looked like, delivered right to your very own inb0x, no algorithms needed. (plus a few bonus pics that I didn’t share on Instagram, just because you’re special and I like you)

Needed sustenance, randomly stopped at “Bleu Coffee Stand and Bar” @hazelstar26 is one chill dude. #かっこいいでしょ Also, great espresso. (Instagram)

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Found @yamaguchiseizai, met 山口さん. He is a super chill, kind and generous man. He is the forth generation owner of Yamaguchi sawmill. l found a couple of small off cuts. ありがとうございます！And now I’m making the train smell nice. #檜 #hinoki #木材 #日本の木材 #木霊 (Instagram)

Here are the hinoki panels leaning against the back wall, where they will hang. They fill KocoGarden with a wonderful earthy, woody smell. It’s amazing. Better than I might have imagined.

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Small 木霊 speakers are working. Now I have to head back to @yamaguchiseizai to get “The Mother Tree,” a beautiful panel Yamaguchi-sama set aside for me. (Instagram)

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As noted, I head back to Yamaguchi sawmill next week. I'll rent the little white Koganecho van to go pick up The Mother Tree—as I have taken to calling it. It's considerably larger than the small 木霊 (kodama) speakers. That's it up above, with my name scrawled in chalk (スティーブ). I'm excited. It's going to be so beautiful and smell so good.

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More to come my friends. Here we go.