Various artists from several countries participated in the winter event “Snow Scape Moere” (SSM), which was held at Moere-numa Park (designed by sculptor Noguchi Isamu) in Sapporo, Japan. During the winter of 2009 was the fourth time the event was held, and it was the first that Akasaka Shinichiro Atelier participated in.
What does “Snow Scape” (snow scenery) mean? Our answer to this question was to amplify the beauty of the snow by adding something other than snow. The contrast between a blue sky and snow-covered hills, an old tree standing still in a snowfield, and animal footprints stamped in the snow … We have to say that something other than the snow surely makes the “Snow Scape” more attractive.
For SSM, our proposal was to have colorful pyramid-shaped tents, in response to the glass pyramid — the landmark of the park — as something other than snow. The pyramid-shaped tents, with different sizes and colors, were sprinkled on a pure-white snowfield to construct the “tent village,” which stands out against the whiteness and beauty of snow. Underneath the pyramids are snow rooms made by digging in the deep snow. The room welcomes visitors into an unexpectedly wide space filled with the color of the tent.
We proposed to project the video image on the pyramid wall at night, beginning at dusk, in order to make the best use of the “light-penetrate” tent material. German video artists Nina Fischer and Maroan el Sani approved this project and offered us their wonderful video works as well as various other ideas to make this collaboration happen.
In actuality, the plan had to be reduced and modified because of unusually little snow, warmth, and heavy rain like in May, followed with coldness. On the other hand, it was really interesting to experience the “snow” and “coldness,” those beautiful but severe natural phenomena that bring people together. On site, the lively production accommodating the climate change created unusual tightness in relationships. Also, during the event, visitors and tourists made conversation very frankly with each other on the topic of snow and coldness in this little tent village. The behaviors and expressions of people and communication between strangers would never occur in the preset conditions of an indoor exhibition.
I would like to express my gratitude to this project for allowing me to learn the true purpose of Snow Scape Moere, via producing works with snow.
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