雅び
(miyabi)
“Elegance”, “refinement” or “courtliness”, sometimes refers to a “heart-breaker”.
(miyabi)
“Elegance”, “refinement” or “courtliness”, sometimes refers to a “heart-breaker”.
秋思
(shūshi)
Autumnal melancholy; a feeling of deep sadness associated with the autumn season.
切ない
(setsunai)
Emotion between bitter-sweet-painful and wistful. A kind of heartrending emotion.
(setsunai)
Emotion between bitter-sweet-painful and wistful. A kind of heartrending emotion.
しばい
(shibai)
A simple, subtle, and unobtrusive beauty; it means that things are more beautiful when they speak for themselves.
川明かり
(kawaakari)
The gleam of last light on a river’s surface at dusk; the glow of a river in the darkness.
(kawaakari)
The gleam of last light on a river’s surface at dusk; the glow of a river in the darkness.
物の哀れ
(mononoaware)
Indicates a kind of nostalgia and sensitivity towards the transient nature of beauty and life.
(mononoaware)
Indicates a kind of nostalgia and sensitivity towards the transient nature of beauty and life.
建前
(tatemae)
The behavior and opinions display in public to satisfy society’s demands.
(tatemae)
The behavior and opinions display in public to satisfy society’s demands.
本音
(honne)
The contrast between a person’s true feeling and desires, often kept hidden to oneself.
(honne)
The contrast between a person’s true feeling and desires, often kept hidden to oneself.
森林浴
(shinrinyoku)
A visit to the forest for relaxation, lit. “forest-bathing”
(shinrinyoku)
A visit to the forest for relaxation, lit. “forest-bathing”
花鳥風月
(kachōfūgetsu)
“Flower, bird, wind, moon”; a feeling of deep sadness associated with the autumn season.
(kachōfūgetsu)
“Flower, bird, wind, moon”; a feeling of deep sadness associated with the autumn season.
粋
(iki)
“Refined uniqueness”; originality, uniqueness and spontaneity that is more audacious and unselfconscious while still remaining measured and controlled.
(iki)
“Refined uniqueness”; originality, uniqueness and spontaneity that is more audacious and unselfconscious while still remaining measured and controlled.
佗
(wabi)
A flawed detail that creates an elegant whole.
にと女
(nito-onna)
A woman so dedicated to her career that she has no time to iron blouses and so dresses only in knitted tops.
(nito-onna)
A woman so dedicated to her career that she has no time to iron blouses and so dresses only in knitted tops.
一期一会
(ichigoichie)
“One time – one meeting”; an encounter that only happens once in a lifetime, reminding us to treasure every moment, for it will never recur.
(ichigoichie)
“One time – one meeting”; an encounter that only happens once in a lifetime, reminding us to treasure every moment, for it will never recur.
ぼけっと
(boketto)
The act of gazing vacantly into the distance without thinking.
(boketto)
The act of gazing vacantly into the distance without thinking.
懐かしい
(natsukashii)
Missing something. The sense of longing, being nostalgic for something, someone or somewhere; Suddenly, euphorically nostalgic, triggered by experiencing something for the first time in years.
(natsukashii)
Missing something. The sense of longing, being nostalgic for something, someone or somewhere; Suddenly, euphorically nostalgic, triggered by experiencing something for the first time in years.
生き甲斐
(ikigai)
A reason to get up in the morning, a reason to live.
ときめき
(tokimeki)
The bubbly feeling of the moment of falling in love.
(tokimeki)
The bubbly feeling of the moment of falling in love.
食い倒れ
(kuidaore)
To eat yourself into bankruptcy.
(kuidaore)
To eat yourself into bankruptcy.
じゅうやく
(jūyaku)
A translation of a translation.
(jūyaku)
A translation of a translation.
残心
(zanshin)
A state of relaxed mental alertness in the face of danger.
(zanshin)
A state of relaxed mental alertness in the face of danger.
バックシャン
(bakku-shan)
A woman who appears to be beautiful and attractive only when being viewed from behind.
(bakku-shan)
A woman who appears to be beautiful and attractive only when being viewed from behind.
別腹
(betsubara)
“Extra stomach”. It is generally used to describe a female who always has room for dessert.
惚気
(noroke)
The way one constantly speak with fondness and enthusiasm about one’s love.
(noroke)
The way one constantly speak with fondness and enthusiasm about one’s love.
上げ劣り
(ageotori)
The state of looking worse after getting a haircut.
(ageotori)
The state of looking worse after getting a haircut.
Between words and I
There are distant species of words jumping out, trying to meet me. I weave them into a theme, into this collection as my wreath of words, to reconsider my relationship between words and myself. Therefore, I am about to be received by the nature of the space of words, the space that is before I, trying to make my way through it by myself.
私は母によって生まれた私
「私」は言語によって生まれた私
···
日が暮れた
蛙の声を聞きながら
布団並べて眠りに落ちると
私も「私」も
**かがやく宇宙の微塵**となった
I was given birth by my mother
“Me” was birthed by my words
...
The day has ended
Listening to frogs
We fall asleep in futons placed side by side
Both “Me” and I are now
**the sparkling dust of the universe**
(Shuntaro Tanikawa, To meet me)
I will further explain “me” as: M is for Metaphor. E is for Embodied. ‘Embodied metaphor’ - a term used to describe the phenomenon whereby our bodily interactions with the world around us provide a motivation for the metaphorical ways in which we talk about abstract concepts and emotions. And what are those mentioned concepts but abstracts, and when translated ‒ they become metaphors ‒ as the translation is still incomplete conveyance, rather than literal. All those different forms, all over the world, I want those shapes to be part of me. To live in those forms that allow space for the unsaid. I can use here Roland Barthes’s metaphor in A Lover’s discourse, that says that language experience orgasm upon touching itself: “Language is a skin. I rub my language against the other. It is as if I had words instead of fingers, or fingers at the tip of my words. My language trembles with desire”.
Visual performance, accompanied by 30 photographs taken during my first stay in Japan 2015 - 2016 is there just as another metaphorical form of the abstract concepts. Words and photos do not explain each other, visuals are just analogous to the shade ‒ related to the original but appears different from what we are supposed to know about the object that cast shadow. These are the traces of translation, embodied degrees of shade. Or shades can be seen as traces of the remainders of the translational process.
There are distant species of words jumping out, trying to meet me. I weave them into a theme, into this collection as my wreath of words, to reconsider my relationship between words and myself. Therefore, I am about to be received by the nature of the space of words, the space that is before I, trying to make my way through it by myself.
私は母によって生まれた私
「私」は言語によって生まれた私
···
日が暮れた
蛙の声を聞きながら
布団並べて眠りに落ちると
私も「私」も
**かがやく宇宙の微塵**となった
I was given birth by my mother
“Me” was birthed by my words
...
The day has ended
Listening to frogs
We fall asleep in futons placed side by side
Both “Me” and I are now
**the sparkling dust of the universe**
(Shuntaro Tanikawa, To meet me)
Visual performance, accompanied by 30 photographs taken during my first stay in Japan 2015 - 2016 is there just as another metaphorical form of the abstract concepts. Words and photos do not explain each other, visuals are just analogous to the shade ‒ related to the original but appears different from what we are supposed to know about the object that cast shadow. These are the traces of translation, embodied degrees of shade. Or shades can be seen as traces of the remainders of the translational process.