A Conduit Of Care
Trembling Aspen | Series 04_My Life Here | Issue_09
I stopped by the office to look after some administrative affairs. Everyone, as usual, quietly tap, tap, tapping on their laptops. On my way out I passed Theo, Haruka and Yamano-san all gathered around a large brown paper wrapped something-or-other that had just been delivered. Yamano-san had just finished unwrapping said something-or-other, the trio's excitement palpable. I, being the curious creature I am, stopped to have a look. It was the posters for the upcoming Spring Exhibition. Yamano-san pulled off the top one, held it up and I snapped the picture above.
The big news is, my proposal for the Spring Exhibition—which I shared in its near entirety in Issue_07—was selected! It was a bit risky sharing plans before they hatched, but sharing the forming of plans seemed like the thing worth doing in that issue. More about the exhibition in a moment.
Right now, I owe you an update regarding my Mom's exhibition Ninety Five Winters.
It happened, it was amazing.
Mom's opening and artist talk happened January 26th in KocoGarden. The first person to arrive came all the way from Tokyo. She had read about the opening on the Koganecho website and made the trip in. My Mom was on the zoom call all ready to go, so we chatted for a bit, me translating, the three of us doing the best we could. It was rather a lovely moment.
Koganecho artists and staff started filtering in, about a dozen people in all. A few family members in Canada joined via zoom. Mom read through a little talk she prepared, and then we had a Q&A. Mom showed more of her small paintings, holding them up to the camera. Say what you will about the current state of the world, but on this day a 95 year old artist in Vancouver, Canada got to interact directly with her adoring fans all the way on the other side of the world in Yokohama, Japan. Technology can be, at times, magical.
We officially ended after everyone gathered had been appropriately impressed, inspired and enraptured by Mom. A few people stayed behind in Kocogarden, and more one-on-one chats ensued. We said our final goodbyes about an hour after starting.
I will remind you, one more time. My Mom is 95. This was her first ever solo exhibition. It was the first time she had painted abstractly after nearly 30 years of painting. She got on a zoom call with folks from the other side of the world to do her first ever artist talk. Being willing to try any one of those things at any age is an act of unmitigated bravery. (Ask any artist who's done an artist talk. Even the most seasoned will tell you it's nerve racking!) Being willing and capable to do all of these things at the age of 95 is—I will say it again despite it being my Mom—simply inspiring.
Spring Exhibition / GratitudeGrief Quilt
My proposal was selected. It felt good, I was excited, if not a little trepidatious. The timeline I had proposed was daunting.
As typically happens, each selected artist meets with the curatorial team to further discuss their proposal. At this meeting the curators requested I expand my participation to include not just my proposed quilting project, but all of KocoGarden for the duration of the exhibition. We discussed adjustments to the timeline and decided quilt panel making would run for the duration of the exhibition and we'd forgo exhibiting in some other way. This was a relief as it means I now have until mid-March to design the workshops, rather than having to design and carry out the workshops before mid-March. Whew.
The GratitudeGrief Quilt project is now titled Unsanctioned Forms of Caring, and will run for the duration of the exhibition, from mid-March to mid-June, coinciding with Yokohama's 8th Triennale. I have been a busy little beaver the last few weeks working on further programming for KocoGarden to run alongside and around Unsanctioned Forms of Caring. As I've been doing so, a few ways of describing KocoGarden has emerged. Each of these metaphors is connected to a potential project to happen over the course of the exhibition. Each project intentionally blurs the line between community development and participatory art. More to come. Exciting times...
KocoGarden is a conduit-of-care
KocoGarden is a no-thing (無) through which flows the currencies of information, care and solidarity.
KocoGarden is a vessel
KocoGarden is a vessel whose importance is the negative space it defines, into which care might be poured in and poured out.
KocoGarden is a talking stick
KocoGarden gives people permission to speak and to listen, creating conversations of care.
This issue brought to you from OPEN Café in the Nakameguro neighbourhood of Tokyo. Never Forget. Session Victim wafting through the airwaves.
Hey, I’m Steve, an artist-in-residence in Yokohama, Japan. I make collaborative art, participatory art, interactive new media installations, and abstract visual art. I explore themes of home, identity, belonging and how to live your life like a work of art. I write about it all in this very newsletter, Trembling Aspen.
I’m learning out loud so we can learn together.
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