2015
Dirt Stage 土の時間を育てる / 世界土協会
Dirt Time / World Dirt Association
Base Camp (Niigata)
Cooperation: Machiko Tanaka, Kazuo Asano, Akiichi Takenaka, Naoko Hori, Fumie Higashi, Hideaki Takahashi, Hiroaki Horikawa, Hirokazu Ogi, Hiroyuki Kazama, Kanako Koyama, Yoshihiro Shimoyama, Takahiro Ishida, Tetsuzo Shimizu, Erika Masutani, Kentaro Mori, Yuichi Sakamoto, Noriko Nanjo, Hiroshi Toshimori, Yukari Art, S.Y.P Art Space, Akari An
2015
Dirt Stage 土の時間を育てる / 世界土協会
Dirt Time / World Dirt Association
Base Camp (Niigata)
Cooperation: Machiko Tanaka, Kazuo Asano, Akiichi Takenaka, Naoko Hori, Fumie Higashi, Hideaki Takahashi, Hiroaki Horikawa, Hirokazu Ogi, Hiroyuki Kazama, Kanako Koyama, Yoshihiro Shimoyama, Takahiro Ishida, Tetsuzo Shimizu, Erika Masutani, Kentaro Mori, Yuichi Sakamoto, Noriko Nanjo, Hiroshi Toshimori, Yukari Art, S.Y.P Art Space, Akari An
Soil collected from around the world, primarily from Niigata Prefecture, is quietly arranged in the space.
Throughout the exhibition, the soil absorbs water, changes, sometimes sprouts, and nurtures another era. "Dirt Stage" is an attempt to view soil not as a fixed exhibit, but as a constantly evolving entity that interacts with others. The experience of viewing the geological strata from a high vantage point allows us to transcend our everyday sense of time and listen to the slow breathing of the Earth.
"Dirt Stage - Nurturing the Time of Soil" is an attempt to open up soil to space not as a fixed exhibit, but as a constantly changing entity. The World Soil Association, comprised of Yoshitaka Nanjo, James Jack, and Shotaro Yoshino, placed soil collected from all over Japan, primarily from lagoons in Niigata Prefecture, into school spaces, watering, observing, and working with it throughout the exhibition period. What emerges is not a completed "work of art," but the very state of being in the midst of creation.
The geological layers constructed in this work are normally buried underground, invisible as time passes. The act of bringing them up to human eye level is not about explaining geology as knowledge, but rather about creating conditions for a physical encounter with the Earth's time. Soil transported from different lands is juxtaposed within a square frame, detached from its existing geographical and historical context, and then forged into new relationships.
The cycle of plants, which eventually sprout, wither, and leave their mark on other soil, superimposes a different time on the soil than the original land. This "different time" quietly shakes up the divisions between nature and human intervention, preservation and change, exhibition and life. Furthermore, this work connects with the local community through workshops and dialogues, and the production process itself is shared. Here, soil is not an object but a medium, and the viewer is positioned as both an observer and a participant in time. "Dirt Stage" transforms the exhibition space into an open space where the time of the earth and the time of people continuously intersect.