Architecture for What Cause?
[日本語］
I had wanted to make a post about the purpose of art for a long time, because it is something I had thought about since observing a lot of recurring themes, and personalities within my working culture. It is about art, and just about anything that you can make, and share with the world-
A conscious artist can reflect the work that they produce back to themselves. The real question is, how does this piece of work make someone feel when they view it? Does it make someone feel excited? Do they feel curious? Is there a mystery? Do they feel...floating? Aroused? Or on the other hand, do they feel small?
Does it exist to show how much better they are than you? Or does it exist, just to exist- nameless of the artist. A rogue graffiti tag, with no face, just artistic expression?
I say this because I continually come back to a place in life where I am viewing the work of people who are more interested in creating work for the purpose of self image. Especially in this time when social media is the most dominant medium of self expression.
I realize that my area of work and the “architects” that surround me, are all part of a type of art that exists around an egotistic expression, rather than a social expression, or emotional.
During the pandemic in New York, we broke apart the value of art, because it was meaningless in a society where people were dying. I came to the conclusion that I wanted to do projects that make people come together socially.
I’m thinking in Japan, about the work that I am drawn to. And the aesthetics that I photograph in Japan...the things that I find interesting in the urban environment. These green, mossy walls, the buildings being engulfed by ivy, and going up the telephone pole.
It is maybe not that I find it beautiful, but I find something about it that makes me think about something subconscious about our modern society.
And then, socially, the kind of photos that I think are interesting at the end of the day. It was kind of accidental, or split second decision to take a photograph, of this person wearing all black, and an umbrella in the shade, alongside the beach in Zushi.
But what does it say about our odd Japanese society? Like someone facing the dark corner of the traincar that I saw, clearly upset and having extreme antisocial behavior in Tokyo along the Inokashira line.
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I was in Mishima and Fuji City over the past few days. I’ve been traveling Kanagawa often over the weeks, and finally went a bit further to Shizuoka, a prefecture with the Southern view of Mt Fuji.
Mishima, the City of Water. And a bit more of a brighter, happier place than Fuji City. The guesthouse, and a lot of the surrounding areas were undergoing revitalization projects, and I felt they were done in a great way. Other inaka areas I’ve visiting always have guesthouses that are placed oddly, they feel cold, and unintegrated. But this one was very well placed, and had a positive energy. The energy of a city that is *not dying.
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All in all, the metropolis of Tokyo puts you into a fever dream, it makes you forget why you came to Japan:
To rebuild, to create new work, to do things for a new era in architecture. An architecture that is not about ego, or pursuit of power, but about empowering others, and creating joy within places and the people that deserve to be seen.