1991-2023



2008年〜  
   




Past. 1991年 〜過去のフィルム作品より  
   


Japanese Blue . A question from Mental Contagion.

Question : In the Japanese Blue series, blue plastic is photographed in different environments. Did you create these environments, or was the blue plastic sometimes found? How many people assisted you with this project?

Norio : I started this project in 1992. The blue polyethylene sheets, which I named "Japanese Blue," exist all around Japan. I've never touched the objects, I just find the object, and photograph it. In Japan, blue sheets are used in farming, industry, and also by ordinary people. So it is easy to find bule sheets in anywhere, and I don't need any support. I do this project by myself.

Question : Some of the wrapped objects in the Japanese Blue series, possess a subtle similarity to the large-scale wrapping conceived by artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude, created as a way to alter environments. However, your project seems to convey something different; the blue plastic seems to be part of the environment, and each image tends to have its own unique personality. What was your intent with the wrapping? What compelled you to work with the theme of the blue plastic?

Norio : Unlike from Christo and Jeanne-Claude, I don't create the objects. I found them incidentally. They are wrapped by somebody, for different purposes: some of them are for waterproofing, and others might be for concealing the corpse in the site of construction. Please visit Japan someday! You will find many blue sheets in towns and country sides.

Again, I say, I just find the objects and press the shutter silently.

The purpose of this project is to view Japanese culture and myself by the scenery with blue sheets. Why we Japanese people like blue? In the environment of Japan, what meaning does the blue sheets have? Moreover, this project consists criticism for the system of modern arts, which reperesented by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, What is the arts? what is the fine arts? and what is the system of arts? The photographer creats nothing. I just photograph something, and leave there. I love the simplicity of photography.

Japanese Blue 物語の不在
このシリーズの最初の個展は1992年なので、かれこれフィルム時代から数えて30年近く続けていることになる。日本全国、様々な場所に出現するブルーシートは、ペラペラの表面があるばかりで、自らの中身を語ることはない。彼らの中心、本体、物語は不在なのだ。Japanese Blue...なんて、写真的光景なのだろう...。

今時分、おそらく福島辺りに行けば沢山の Japanese Blue に巡り合えるのだろうが、敢えて僕は行かない。動機をはぐらかしたまま、何処でも撮れることに賭けている。

ブルーをめくると、またブルーが現われる...