Development of Yohakonobi (Okinawa): September- November 2010

The project will explore two spatial concepts. They are notions of ‘Yohaku-no-bi’ (Japanese term: literally translated as beauty of extra white) and 'pathway'. Yohaku-no-bi, in the sense of ‘open space’ which focuses on what is left out of a design rather than what is put in. The aesthetics of yohaku (extra white, white space) is often associated with the concept of ‘emptiness’ or ‘nothingness’ of Zen philosophy and it is visualised in Zen garden for meditation purposes.

However what we emphasise here is a new perspective of Yohaku-no-bi generated by Naomi’s research in Okinawa. Utaki (Sacred grove) in Taketomi island is non-decorative and literally empty, but a powerful and sublime space. While Zen gardens such as Karesansui (literally, ‘dry landscape’) are precisely designed, with a solemn atmosphere suggesting a resolute attitude, the open space of Utaki exists as very carefree, and fits comfortably within people’s everyday lives.

Some pathways on the island act as a guide to the Utaki space. Utaki is naturally found by following those attractive pathways. The concept of pathway in the project will be interpreted as a transformative element leading audiences into open white space.

White here represents open space but also includes colour of white. One side of Taketomi’s seashore is covered by coral bones, dazzling white under the tropical sunshine. The variety in the details of those corals gave an impression of rich whiteness and feeling of stillness. That could be from the factor of coral’s nature of ‘slow-growing’. (The slow-growing species grows only between 2 and 6 mm/year. The corals provide multi-century records.) The notion of stillness will be also experimented with as an element of the Ocean white project.

The installation will be developed through a collaborative process that will investigate the artistic concept through visual art, sonic and lighting combinations and techniques. For example, the idea of pathway is created not only by placing visual objects but also through sound and lighting media, allowing for the evocation of multiple pathways as trajectories in light and sound. The visual (material) objects will be developed as sound sculptures, interpreting a disclosure of spatial and temporal relationships between material form and resonating sound frequencies.

The installation will be constructed as a treatment of pathway and open white as spatial and temporal metaphors, dynamically shifting experiences of spatial disclosure towards experiences of place and finally site. Varied elements will be discovered along the eventually disclosing the open white area.

The processing of sonic and lighting elements enables the more persistent visual sculptural elements to have a shifting and fluid context. In this way there can be multiple investigations of yohaku-no-bi that suggest temporal passages over both epic and everyday time-frames.

The artists will develop assemblages of material, sound and lighting technologies, two examples of which are: Ultrasonic diffusion and swing-arm directional control to articulate pathway markers, and an orchestrated transmission of light and sound events; Sub-sonic diffusion to create orchestrations of movement and pattern in the sculptural objects.

Personnel:

Naomi Ota (visual installation artist), Genta Iwamura (lighting designer), Peter Eckersall (dramaturge), Tim Humphrey and Madeleine Flynn (composers/musicians), Soo-Yeun You (choreographer/dancer), Tony Yap (choreographer/dancer).