Kaoru Hirano
03
Tadasuke Jinno
09
Atsushi Fukunaga
15
Miya Hiro
23

1

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Kaoru Hirano

Installation view: Arts Maebashi, Gunma; Photo: KIGURE Shinya

3One Cut One Bow interviewed Kaoru Hirano on 24
October 2015 in Berlin. Hirano has been creating
sculptural forms by unravelling and re-tying threads
from clothes and accessories, influenced by her
childhood memory of her mother making clothes.
Based in Berlin since 2009, she has recently moved
to Hiroshima, Japan.

translated by “memory”. Perhaps more than one
word is required to explain “気配” (kehai).
OCOB: How do you sense “気配” (kehai)?
KH: Though clothes are usually worn, whenunravelled, deconstructed and made into a work, theposition changes such that the clothes wear theowner. Even though the owner does not exist in thework itself, we can probably imagine and sense theperson who was wearing it, as their presence
remains there in some way.

Material and process
One Cut One Bow (OCOB): How does your chosenmaterial influence the eventual form of your work?

OCOB: We were recently talking to a friend from
Lebanon. He needed some warm clothes and wesuggested that he visits a second-hand shop. The
idea of a second-hand shop was new to him. We
explained that the shop sells clothes previously wornby other people. He didn't like the idea because theenergy of the other person would remain on theclothes. In his culture, after a person dies, him or her
clothes are burnt. We began throwing around words
for this idea of energy or aura, and started to wonder
if you wear second-hand clothes.

Kaoru Hirano (KH): If I already have a story, I look fora particular material related to it. If I am just browsing
in a second-hand shop, I choose a material based onwhether I can imagine the eventual form. It could besomething about the colour, fabric or shape ofclothes, shoes or an umbrella, etc., and the sense ofwhat happens when they are unravelled, united andfinally installed in a space. If I can imagine how it
appears, I will take the material.
OCOB: For your sphere work (sphere #3, 2012), did
you intend to make a sphere before you unravelled
the chino pants?

KH: I like second-hand clothes.
OCOB: Me too. What happens for clothes with morethan one owner?

KH: Yes. Someone gave me the chino pants.

KH: A wedding dress might be worn by five brides
and my wedding dress work (untitled -brides-, 2012)
concerns the making of a ritual into form, as awedding dress is worn only for a wedding ceremony.
It is less about an individual person, than about theconcept of the bride.

OCOB: Daigoro (Hirano’s husband)?
KH: Secret...
OCOB: How about the underwear?
KH: Secret.
OCOB: Top secret?

When I have materials from a second-hand shop, I
do not know the story of material. I don’t know if there
is only one owner, or two or three, but it doesn’t
matter because I can create a new story. Perhaps noone can know the history of clothes, but we canimagine it.

KH: Top secret. If I say the underwear is Daigoro's,
we can only imagine him. If the person is unknown,
everyone will have their own image of the owner.
OCOB: Your work requires a lot of time, labour andenergy. Is it important that you make your work by
yourself?

OCOB: Do you have a story of the jacket that you’re
wearing now?

KH: No, it isn’t. In the past, people have helped me
and depending on the nature of the work, I might get
help in future.

KH: The owner might have been a New Yorker whobought many clothes. But I’ve already used this for 5
or 6 years by now and it's mine.
OCOB: Your “気配” (kehai) is bigger. If I ever see
someone else wearing a shirt that I have given away,
I think I would have a strange sensation and feel thatthe shirt still mine.

気配 (kehai - Memory/Sign/Presence)
OCOB: We have sometimes used the word “memory”
for “気配” (kehai) about your practice. Is there a gap
between the meanings of both words?

KH: I think it’s the same for a house. Perhaps clothes
are also like spaces that people live in.

KH: I am not very good at English, but probably, thisJapanese word “気配” (kehai) cannot be adequately

4

Kaoru Hirano, sphere #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9 (2012);
chino pants, sock (right), sock( left), T-shirt, sock (right),
sock (left), panties;
diameter: 16cm, 5cm, 5cm, 10cm, 6cm, 6cm, 6cm.
Photo by Nobutada OMOTE (SANDWICH GRAPHIC).

Kaoru Hirano, untitled -brides- (2012),
wedding dress, dimensions variable.
Photo by Nobutada OMOTE (SANDWICH GRAPHIC).
Collection : Takahashi collection

5Experimentation

the cake covered in the candle wax until I had tothrow it away.

OCOB: Are there any new materials that you areinterested in using?

I also worked with obituaries. In the newspaper inGermany, you have an obituary section. There is aframed section for each person who has passed
away, as well as the date of the newspaper. Whenyou put paper on top of the newspaper and create
friction, the ink would be transferred onto the paper. I
then collected all those dates. There was a groupexhibition where I showed my work from theobituaries. The exhibition space was a corridor withdoors on each end. I selected obituaries with the birthdates or passing away dates relevant to theexhibition period and placed them at different ends ofthe corridor depending on whether the date occurred
closer to the beginning or end of the exhibition
period.

KH: I have always wanted to use new materials andhave been challenging myself but my experiments
have not quite materialised into an eventual work. I
think there are materials I can use to express “気配”
(kehai), but so far, I haven’t found any which feels
right.
OCOB: I remember seeing something in your studiolast year that you were knitting. I think you wanted toknit a sweatshirt and you said that you didn't like it.
KH: I tried knitting, but I don’t like it. I think I finishedthe last piece I worked on. One thread is big, like a
pom-pom. I don't know why, but knitting makes awork too thick. I tried different things, including abirthday cake. I covered a birthday cake with candle
wax. I lit candles on the birthday cake and all the wax
melted. Eventually, the birthday cake was coatedwith the candle wax.

OCOB: What was the eventual work presented?
KH: The material I used was tracing paper. First ofall, I cut the tracing paper in the same size as thenewspaper itself, and transferred the date thenewspaper was published, the frame of obituaries
and the dates within the obituaries. I placed the
tracing paper on the glass doors of the exhibition
space so you could see it from both sides.

OCOB: Can you tell us a bit more?
KH: I wanted to make something special to celebrate.
th
My birthday is on the 15 September and my birthday
is only this day, but every day is somebody's
birthday. I covered the cake with the candle wax andplanned to remove the cake, leaving the wax.
However, I couldn’t remove the cake easily and also
had doubts about how the work would develop. I left

OCOB: It makes me think of the physical path of life
and time. It's so different from your other works.
KH: The material is different but it also makes you
think about memory and time.

Kaoru Hirano, untitled -Traueranzeige- (2011);
newspaper, paper.
Photo by Megumi FUKUDA

Kaoru Hirano, untitled -Traueranzeige- (2011); newspaper,
paper

6

OCOB: The idea of a witch reminds me of thehistorical witch-hunts, where those thought to be
witches would be searched for and burnt. Are there
witches in Japan?
KH: 魔女の宅急便（Majo no Takkyūbin or Witch's
Delivery Service is a 1989 Japanese animatedfantasy film produced by Studio Ghibli also known as“Kiki’s Delivery Service”). In Japan, witches don’t
have a bad image.
Returning to Japan
OCOB: Why are you returning to Japan?
KH: I like the four seasons in Japan and the lightthere. The sunlight in Japan is different from here.
The light here is like sand; it isn’t smooth. It is also alittle blackish and the colours of trees are also gritty.
OCOB: How about in Japan?
KH: しとり(shitori)
OCOB (M): Sounds good.
OCOB (R): That's a challenge…
OCOB (M): Translate it.
OCOB (R): しとり(shitori).
OCOB (M): Dry, clear, piercing? What do you use theword with?
OCOB (R): I often use it to describe an atmosphereof a space, among activities or just a state that you
are in, especially with friends. Of course we also use
it for objects. You might have a しとり(shitori) timewith your friend, a session which is calm andpersonal, though not necessarily intimate.

Kaoru Hirano, web #3 (2012), dress, h.75 x w.75 cm.
Photo by Nobutada OMOTE (SANDWICH
GRAPHIC)
Collection : Takahashi collection

Your skin can be described as しとり(shitori),meaning smooth and moist, perhaps after a visit to a
hot spring.

New works
OCOB: What are you working on now?
KH: I’m not making works now as I am preparing tomove out, but for the exhibition in Augsburg (Textile
Erinnerungen – Remembering Textiles, Staatliches
Textil und Industriemuseum Augsburg, 26 February 8 May 2016), I would like to make a slightly bigger
spider web (web #3).

KH: The light is also softer and differs depending on
the place in Japan.
Translation
OCOB: Do you have any questions for us?

In addition — though I don’t know if it will materialise
nor is there any exhibition intended for it — there is amaterial that I am mulling over. Someone, possibly a
man from a village in Germany, found his mother’s
clothes in his attic and posted on Kleinanzeigen, aGerman equivalent of Yahoo Auctions, asking if
anyone would want a cardboard box of his mother’s
clothes.

KH: How do you translate?
OCOB (R): We transcribe the original Japanese text,
leaving two or three lines below the transcription. I
would then write the hiragana and translate it wordfor-word so that Mag can read it. Based on our own
interpretation, we discuss each sentence in detail.
We question each other a lot, on why a certain word
is used or how it connects with the text.

So, I bought the box of clothes. When it arrived and I
opened it, I found that almost all the contents were
black clothes, such as very long and completely
black skirts. Though the shirts were white, everythingelse was black, including something that could havebeen worn on your head like a scarf, socks whichwere pretty thick, etc. I thought that the clothes could
have belonged to a witch and want to make a work
about witches.

OCOB (M): We ask each other a lot of questions and
we enjoy challenging each other. That’s probably
why we take so long but this process is interesting forus.

OCOB: A witch is a very powerful image. I can’t wait
to see what you will do with the work.
KH: Too powerful?
OCOB: No, no. Not too powerful.
KH: My friend told me that in Germany, witches are
human.

7

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Tadasuke Jinno

Top: Tadasuke Jinno; [Device Red and Green] (2014); epoxy resin, pearl pigment, acrylic on canvas; 15 x 26 inches
Bottom: Tadasuke Jinno; [Gray Triangle#01] (2013); urethane, acrylic on canvas; 60 x 30 inches

9Tadasuke Jinno; [untitled#01_version1] (2016); silk, wood lumber, acrylic; 610 x1300 x 300 cm

One Cut One Bow interviewed Tadasuke Jinno on 6
February 2016 in Leipzig. From the perspective of apainter, he experiments with the properties of materials,
setting up situations that provoke viewers to reconsider
the objects and spaces they encounter. He talks to us
about his philosophy in making art, his influences, and his
cats. Originally from Nagoya, Japan, Jinno has been
based in New York City since 2010.

how I usually make paintings and I do hope that one day, I
will actually move away from this manner of working. If I
were a sculptor, perhaps my way of thinking might bedifferent. Right now, I add changes to my work
incrementally, by altering it somewhat to make it appear
like it is three-dimensional, while it actually isn’t. I guess
this is what I’m currently doing.
However, what has changed is my consciousness of theviewer, for example, how they stand in a space in relation
to the work, how they see the work, and what would
happen after they look at a certain point. In particular, I
wish that my works enable myself or viewers to become
more aware of the space around my works.

Altering a viewer’s consciousness
One Cut One Bow (OCOB): People can interact with yourworks such as [3x3x3] (2015) and [untitled#01_version1](2016) as 3-dimensional spaces. How does creating thesepieces as three-dimensional environments change yourworking method and the way you relate to your work?

OCOB: It sounds like how your work develops depends onthe materials you choose and how they have been used.

Tadasuke Jinno (TJ): I feel that my works haven’t changed
much, but are more of an extension of my twodimensional works. This is particularly so when I consider
that there haven’t been that many differences in myworking methods.
Previously, some of my works were made with a little dent
and I used a specific kind of pigment to coat the surface.
Because of this special pigment, depending on where you
stand, how the work appears and the reflection of colours
are different. That has made me more aware of how
viewers see my work. However, the way I think about mywork is still pretty much as a painting. If you look at[untitled#01_version1] (2016), it is like a three-dimensional
object, but another way of seeing it is that it has one flat
surface, with another flat surface underneath. What isreflected on the lower surface is also flat. In my opinion,
there is no depth. In terms of my working method, it is still
very much based in painting. I haven’t quite deviated fromTJ: Of course the materials do provide me with a different
kind of awareness. However, as from before, I am simply
interested in how to make a two-dimensional work into
something three-dimensional, though not in the sense ofcreating an illusionistic painting by altering the appearanceof a flat surface. While materials support my artistic
practice, they are not fundamentally important. I am moreconcerned with the experience someone has with mywork. How people see it and how they think about it is themost important. Actually, rather than how people think
about it, I would say that the most important thing is how
there is a change. As long as I can tackle this issue, I am
open to working with any material.
OCOB: So, what’s more important for you is the different
ways that the viewer can see or interact with the work inthe space around it?

10Tadasuke Jinno, [3x3x3] (2015); acrylic on wood; 72 x 74 inches

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Tadasuke Jinno; [Red and Stripe] (2011); acrylic on canvas; 48 x 36 inches

TJ: Yes, the space, and something else I am interested inis the transformation of an object into an art object.
Another way to put it is that this is about awareness —when you see something that you don’t consider an
artwork, yet think about it as art because of a change. I
want to make people become conscious of something thatthey have not been aware of. For example, in[untitled#01_version1] (2016), there are two silk screens,which are rather like mosquito nets. When you overlay two
mosquito nets, there is a dizzying effect, and that effect iscreated in the work. When people see two mosquito nets,
they don’t see them as art. I think they wouldn’t think ofsuch a phenomenon as artistic, but I want to make people
feel that this is also art when they look at these works.

where the red and green overlaps shows your emotionalblah blah blah..,” but there is nothing there. The idea that“what can be seen there is there,” has influenced me a lot.

OCOB: Why is that so important for you and what
experiences make you prioritize this idea of a viewer andits environment?

OCOB: I’m curious. Can you give us an example about
the materials you found interesting while working on
something else?

TJ: I think that art is actualized because someone sees it.
Of course, this idea of art differs from person to person.
For example, one might have a formula for art that
includes factors like installing a work in a certain space,and having viewers see it, in order for art to be actualized.
If a work is put on a street somewhere, I don’t think that it
would work as art. That is how I see it. I think that art isactualized for the first time in a particular space, in aparticular condition, and if no one sees it, there is no
meaning. People’s reactions, and the changes in people
through the work, are the most important for me.

TJ: One example I can think of is when I bought a chair. It
had this structure on both sides with cloth, like a net, andthe chair could be rotated. I put my cat on it and starting
rotating the chair. Then I saw a moiré pattern. There wasa change in the appearance of the chair, and it made me
think of translating it into a work.

OCOB: Do you choose materials based on an idea you
have in mind? Are there occasions when you decide to
make a work using a material and experience from yourdaily life?
TJ: It’s half and half. There are times when I look formaterials with a visual image already in my mind. There
are also times when I am working on something, andcome across a material that makes me think about using it
in future.

OCOB: Poor cat.
TJ: No, no, no, no, no…he was having a lot of fun. That
was an experience that gave me the inspiration for[untitled#01_version1] (2016). As an artist, how one looks
is very important. Looking at a chair and thinking that it isa chair, is not what an artist does. Referring to Frank
Stella once again, when he looked at Jasper Jones’
works, what he saw was a bit different from what a lot of
people were discussing. The general discussion was on
the fact that Jones used the national flag and the focus
was about the national flag being used as a work of art.
But what Stella looked at was the repetition of stripes andhe realized its effect. So when I heard about this andthought about what he saw being different from others, itmade me want to always see something different fromwhat other people are seeing.

Artistic influences and studying in New YorkOCOB: Do you look up to any artists who work withenvironments or materials that are not generally regarded
as art, and placed within a gallery environment?
TJ: I don’t know much about artists who do such things,
but someone close is Marcel Duchamp and also, Frank
Stella who said something along the lines of, “what can beseen there is there,” and this is something that speaks to
me. Previously, when I did paintings, I was trying to see
more than necessary in there. People may say, “This part

12

OCOB: You studied art in New York at the Art Students
League and it seems that a lot of your references are from
American artists.

TJ: This is just an idea, but what I’m thinking about now isa helmet. Of course, I will do something to the helmet. I
think it’s the smallest space and enclosure that someone
can experience. I got the idea when a friend told me thatmy current series was like looking through 3D glasses. It
made me aware of the distance between a person and 3D
glasses, which is very small, and I started to think about
making small spaces and going through small spaces. I
also wonder how it feels for people to go through a wall. I
told my wife about this idea of going through the wall. She
told me that if people are dirty and go through the wall,
she wouldn’t want to go through after. She said that itshould be something I have to be concerned about.

TJ: I only started my involvement in art when I came to
New York. I didn’t know much about art before then andmy life in New York has been crucial to my development. I
don’t know about Japanese art and have been influenced
by American art, from pop art to modern art.
OCOB: Why did you study art?
TJ: When I first came to New York, I was under a lot ofstress as I didn’t have a job or money. My wife was very
worried and suggested that I enrol in art school to take mymind off things. She didn’t expect me to continue in art. It
turned out that there were many American artists in theschool that I went to. I met an artist, a teacher, from theArt Student League. I love his works and his thinking, andhe was why I continued.

OCOB: You can make a big wall with perfume.
TJ: Then for the helmet, I’d have to make a big one too.
OCOB: And one for your cat.

OCOB: Who was your teacher?
TJ: Charles Hinman. I think he is about the same age as
Frank Stella. But he never teaches about techniques. He
just talks about art, materials, art history, etc. I couldn’t
paint well and one day, I asked him how I should paint. He
told me that I should buy a good brush. It made me feelthat he is a good artist, but he doesn’t teach. It was very
interesting for me.
Initially, I had another teacher in a mixed media class. I
made a work with wood pieces of the same height. He
said that my work was not art because it could bemeasured and because one would know the total height. I
didn’t agree with him. I told him I was a graphic designer
and he said that I should use digital printing and do
collage. He was so boring — I don’t have to do that! So, I
quit his class after one day.
OCOB: That’s a good story. So you moved from mixed
media to painting?
TJ: Yes, but my teacher, Charles Hinman’s works are
three-dimensional paintings that play with shadow andlight.

Tadasuke Jinno; [Black and line] (2012); acrylic, wood on canvas;
30 x 30 inches

OBOC: Talking about all this and your history sheds a lotof light on your work.
Ideals and the future
OCOB: You were saying that are interested in thechanges that happen when someone sees a work. Whatkind of changes do you have in mind?
TJ: For me, art happens at the moment when someone
sees a work and a change takes place. However, I am
buying “insurance”, in the sense that I am still trying to
make work that looks like art. This is something that I
would like to get out of.
OCOB: So, you’re not quite living up to your ideal?
TJ: My ideal is for people to change their values when
they see my work. If that happens, then my work is art.
However, if it doesn’t, then it is just an object. At this point,
I am afraid that people don’t feel anything, so, well, I add
to it, using colours or shapes, such that it looks like art.
OCOB: What kind of art do you really want to make?

Tadasuke Jinno; [Gate#06] (2014); epoxy, resin, acrylic on canvas;
28 x 28 inches

13

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Atsushi Fukunaga

Atsushi Fukunaga, The dubbing happenings 13 – The biological sciences around the space – (2015), illustration of magazine, acrylic
sheet, one-way mirror sheet, glass, acrylic mirror sheets, frame; translation in German, Japanese; 100.5 x 100.5 x 2.5 cm

15One Cut One Bow interviewed Atsushi Fukunaga on
10 February 2016 at Fukunaga’s studio in Berlin. His
works investigate the physical and aural possibilities
for representing the invisible nature of onomatopoeia
and sound. Increasingly, he has been exploring therelated concepts of language and voice throughsculptures, collages, and sound installations, often incollaboration with different language speakers.
Originally from Hiroshima, Japan, Fukunaga has
been based in Berlin since 2006.

For Rainy Noise (2011), I created a system with apump for water, making it look like it was raining.
People would walk in through the entrance here, lookinside and hear the noise. At times, they would lookat the water droplets; on other occasions, they would
look up, but of course there would not be any rain. I
showed the visual effect of rain and noise, and as
before, this work is based on my own experience ofsound. This experience with the rainy noiseproducing zaaaa is mine, whether from my illusion or
prejudice.

Beginnings in sound and onomatopoeia
Atsushi Fukunaga (AF): Since 2006, I have been
making works about sound and when I started, myideas were from Japanese manga comics.
One Cut One Bow (OCOB): Perhaps we could startwith your earlier works. No view, no sounds in
Denmark (2007) makes me think about things thatare there, but cannot be seen or heard. Could you tell
us more about it?
AF: You wouldn’t be able to hear anything from thework and in the space. However, from certain angles
within the space, you would be able to see
something. I drew symbols and letters using glossy
transparent spray on the white wall. The images were
pictograms, and based on transcriptions by a Dane,using Danish, after hearing Japanese onomatopoeia
read aloud. The work was intended to create a morenuanced perception of language by reading
something aloud and my techniques were intended toshow the invisibility of sound. My stencils for thespray were displayed in the space behind, to show
how I made my work.
When I first made works, the sounds were from me.
For example, baki or poki in The sounds of broken
colorpencil (2007) are my sounds, and the sounds inthe Kosmos series of collages that I made in 2012,
are all mine.

Atsushi Fukunaga; The sounds of broken colorpencil (2007);
color pens, paper; 50 x 50 x 70cm

Illusions and prejudices of one’s own sounds
OCOB: What do you mean when you say “yoursounds?” Do you mean that you create the sounds?
AF: You were asking me about Die Taubeuhr /Pigeon Clock (2011). It was based on sounds thatwere translated from my own experience. In Japan,
when I was a child, I would go to my friend’s house.
My friend had a pigeon clock, which went popoooopopoooo. When I came to Berlin, I saw the same kindof clock and heard about cuckoo clocks. I thoughtthat there were two different versions of clocks — apigeon clock made in Japan, and a cuckoo clock
made in Germany. But, I now know that they are one
and the same.
OCOB: What other personal experiences haveinspired your works?
AF: I always ask myself the question, “As sound isinvisible, how can I show it?” Before coming to Berlin,
I used letters as objects for sound, but started to look
more closely at sound itself. Take for example, thestatic white noise produced by the TV. When the TV
doesn’t screen any programmes, it goes zaaaaaaa,
with random, flickering “dots” or “snow.” That was 10
or 20 years ago. I used to watch TV and would
sometimes fall asleep. Three hours later, I would
wake up thinking that it's raining. There wouldn’t be
any rain when I look outside, but on glancing at theTV, I would then realise that it was producing thesound.

Atsushi Fukunaga; Rainy Noise (2011); wood, plastic board,
rubber hose, PVC pipe, water, umbrella, television, speaker;
350 x 300 x 100cm

16

Atsushi Fukunaga; Die Taubeuhr / Pigeon Clock (2011); cuckoo clock, Pigeon’s ornament, wood, oil-based paint; 18 x 20 x 10cm

Atsushi Fukunaga; No view, no sounds in Denmark (2007), sponge sheets, white spray painted wall, dimensions variable

Back to the origin of soundthrough sound that they could sense where thedancer was. At times, the dancer would throw thematerials, creating two sounds. It made people
wonder where the dancer was. After the
performance, the stage was empty, and people wereleft wondering about the relationship between
material, sound, direction, and so on.
Previously, I was interested in how to transform
sound into a form, but I felt that I was focusing too
much on words and wanted to go back to the basics,
and rethink my approach. I then began looking at
voice, and asked people to be involved in my project.
It became a turning point for my practice.

AF: I have always been making objects about
onomatopoeia, but for Rainy Noise (2011), there wasa shift towards looking at the origin of sound. I was
also in a collaboration, Dance in the dark (2011)
where I also used sound without onomatopoeia. As itwas dark, you could not see, but could only hear thedancer moving on the stage. There were also a lot ofmaterials from common objects, but when you hear
only the sound produced by the material, you might
not perceive which sound is of which material. The
audience would look straight ahead, and it was only17

In 2011, alongside development of works about
onomatopoeia, I started this new direction towards
voice. While I was investigating the voice, forinstance, in Open Square Project at the Asahi Art
Square [The hurly-burly chorus - Urban symphony in
Sumida and Asakusa - (2013)], I continued
developing my works about onomatopoeia. Initially, it
was difficult for my to convey the nuance or emotionof Japanese onomatopoeia to Germans. I would firstshow my Japanese onomatopoeia and its effect onsound or its nuance, but it’s difficult for others to
grasp all these. So, right now, I am doing the
opposite. Since 2014, I have been asking otherlanguage speakers about their language, and collect
their sounds for collages.

expensive. I asked the guy the price of one box, andit was €50. It was a lot of money for me at that time,
but I bought it. When I looked inside the box, there
were magazines from around 1910, 1920, ‘23, or ‘25.
I had never seen them before. I used these materials,
and then adventure books, as well as general interest
magazines.
When I first started using these magazines andbooks, I didn’t have any idea about the meanings
behind them, but used them just as physical material.
However, in my latest works (Statistical MachineTranslation series), my approach focuses on
language, drawing from adventure books about aGerman adventurer, Rolf Torring, published around
1915, during the period of German colonialism. I
researched old books related to this story and made17 pieces for this series. For each piece, the titles aretaken from the original German title, but translated
into the language of the place, where the book wasset. For certain languages such as Hindi or other
Asian languages, I translated the titles phoneticallyusing Google Translate.

Exploring language in parallel
AF: Since this year, I have been exploring, in parallel,
the theme of language in the context of relational art,
between others and myself.
OCOB: When you ask people to provide you withsome kind of onomatopoeia, do you ask them to write
it down in alphabetical characters, or do you ask
them to pronounce it?
AF: It was rather tricky at first. For example, for thesound installation I did in 2013, I asked around 100
Japanese to imitate sounds with their voices. I
realised though, that if I explained too much, people
would be influenced.
OCOB: What happens as you collect sounds fromthem? From works, such as The dubbing happenings
04 - Diabolique - (2014), it seems like you ask themfor a sound, whether it's something they write downor say, and then look for the corresponding letters inmagazines to represent them.

Dance in the dark / Digest Version 04' 34; Performance(13'10) / 5 November 2011 at Theaterhaus Berlin Mitte,
Berlin, Germany; Dance: Ayaka AZECHI; Sound Installation:
Atsushi FUKUNAGA; Video: Ink Agop

AF: I’ll show you my folders. Some participants rollthe paper, and I collect whatever they do with it. For
recent works of The dubbing happening series, I firstmake a collage, say using a magazine. I then lay itout and show it to someone, asking him or her toimagine a sound. I would explain the overall concept,
for example, this is about war. I might say something
like, “The monster broke this,” but I wouldn’t express
the sound I imagine the monster to make.
OCOB: So when you eventually make the soundinto these forms on your work, how do these words
written by your friend affect the shape or size?
AF: For earlier works in The dubbing happening
series, the size or shape of the font from themagazines didn’t matter. The size of letters frommagazines is limited, and even if I want to use bigger
letters, I wouldn’t be able to find it. At that time, I
didn’t think of using handwritten letters. I don’t exactly
know why, but I felt that the fonts from magazines
were so beautiful. For some of my collages, such as
the Kosmos series, I found the materials by accident,
at a flea market. I visit the flea market every week.
One day, a guy was selling a big box of these old andbeautiful magazines. I wanted to buy only one
magazine, but it was €2, which I thought was pretty

Atsushi Fukunaga; The dubbing happenings 04 - Diabolique- (2014); illustration and lettering of magazine, paste, frame,
acrylic board, glass; translation in Japanese; 11.7 x 16 x 2cm

18

Atsushi Fukunaga; The hurly-burly chorus - Urban symphony in Sumida and Asakusa - (2013); mixed media: multi-speakers, PC,
MP3players, sensor; dimensions variable

Atsushi Fukunaga; Statistical Machine Translation #49 - For wholesale Namaland - (2015); Book cover of “Rolf Torrings Abenteuer”,
adhesive decorative foil, acrylic boards, silver cardboard, frame; Translation in Afrikaans by Google Translate; 22.4 x 27.4 x 2.2 cm

Equality of languages
AF: I think that all languages, having developed indifferent regions, are equal and unique in their own
way. However, with so many English speakers, thedemand for English is high. Each language has its
interesting points, for example, onomatopoeia inJapanese, and though there isn’t as muchonomatopoeia in German, the grammar is interesting.
In the Statistical Machine Translation series, thewords used are from the local language, yet from a
German book. I am interested in this notion ofequality, between these two languages.
When I was studying German, I came across words
that I did not know, but would still read them aloud. I

think that there is meaning in the act of reading
something though without understanding. Usingalphabetical characters to convey a particularlanguage, links the two different languages ofGerman and a local language. It’s an important
aspect for me. When you read the letters, there isrhythm or nuance. If you cannot read it, it is just an
object. By emitting sound through reading, you might
get a new rhythm or nuance.
OCOB: it's interesting, because it also looks at theidea of speaking or voicing something.

19

Atsushi Fukunaga; Storyteller 04 – The North Wind and the Sun – (2015); mirror glass, magnifying mirrors, frame;translation in French, Taiwanese, 24.5 x 24.5 x 3.5 cm each

AF: When working on the sound installations, I didn’t
ask sound professionals, but ordinary people toimitate the sounds of nature. All of them said thatthey could not imitate the sounds as they were notprofessionals and their voices were not good. We
have a Japanese onomatopoeia, ka-kah, for thesound of a crow. But in reality, that is not quite thesound of a crow. From my recording, it’s actually likean old person crying, with a voice that has a humanlike quality. When I asked someone to imitate thesound using his own voice, he said that it was difficult
because of the frequency and could only make thesound ka-kah. I asked him to listen again andexplained that the sound of the crow was not ka-kah.
So he tried again, sometimes saying kuwa kuwa or
ku-ah ku-ah and then a new onomatopoeia wascreated.
If I myself imitate sound, only one sound is produced.
However, when I ask 100 people, then 100 various
sounds are created.

OCOB: The sounds are also very much related toaction. When you have something like this, your hand
can’t help but move. When you ask the participants
to create sounds, do they move?
AF: Sometimes, yes. I ask them to move their bodies
or imagine being a bird. I think everything isconnected at the fundamental level. My idea is toselect voice and letters, but sometimes, it has also
involved body performance.
I have been using sound installations often since2013 and 2014. Then last summer, I tried again but
this time, resulting in collages with mirrors in a series
called Storyteller. I would show people a collage andimage, and ask them to imagine the sound. The
collages would be based on a fairy tale, for example,
from the Grimm brothers, Aesop’s fables, or aJapanese ghost story. Before 2013, I cut out lettersfrom magazines. However, this time, I would use
people’s writing. For example, when I asked anelderly Japanese woman to produce sound, shewrote as she was looking at the image, and I used
her writing by scanning it. Although I previously had
an aversion to writing, I have become interested in
handwriting produced by others.

Sound as performance and of emotion
OCOB: At times, when you were describing yourworks, I thought of a play or theatre, where you are
the director, getting people and giving some
instructions. There is a relationship between you andthe person, and it feels like in some of your works,
there is this quality of creating space, and I think of aperformance.

OCOB: How about the sheet for the Statistical
Machine Translation works? It's also reflective, yet
not quite like a mirror.
AF: This decorated sheet for that series is like acover of colonial history. In a way, obscuring history
yet also acknowledging that it is in the background.
I used a mirror for the Storyteller works because it’s
appropriate when you think about the properties ofsound. If you look at the letters or the figure in theworks, you have to focus on one point. Perhaps you
might see both, but you cannot take in everything all
at one time. I think that the mirror expresses theinvisibility of sound.

AF: Initially people can’t control their own voice, butsometimes, after trying, they have a sense of theirsound. That’s why reading or emitting of sound is so
important. For example, in this collage, The dubbing
happenings 13 – The biological sciences around thespace – (2015), there is this octopus. When
producing sound, it is not just about looking, but you
might also make gestures. You become an octopus. I
think sound is like an emotion. When you become anoctopus, your imagination transforms, and I would
like to also try working with performance.

20

The future
OCOB: What are you currently working on?
AF: I am planning a new work that is a step further
into my exploration of language. It is a comment
about the Japanese government, as it is in such abad state.
I have a poster here, which is about the Trans-PacificPartnership (TPP) Agreement. This poster was by
the Liberal Democratic Party around 2010 or so when
they were the opposition, and were explaining thatthey were absolutely against the TPP and would
definitely not support it. Literally, the poster reads,“We don’t lie. We are against the TPP. We won’tchange our minds.” For small and medium-sizedenterprises, and those in agriculture in Japan, thesewere of course such beautiful words, which we now
realise were lies as the Liberal Democratic Party
recently signed the Agreement. My idea is to cover
the words with this decorative sheet, blurring andaltering the appearance of the words. [Note:
Fukunaga has recently completed this work, The
Marvelous Catchphrase (2016)].
I have also been reading the history of the Grimm
brothers. They made a German dictionary, gatheringwords from local languages and dialects as well as
folktales. Their fairy tales are not just in Germany, butalso in other countries. Long ago, people would go
round, telling stories in songs. The transmission ofthese tales orally and its associations in different
cultures and languages are truly fascinating.
In future, I would like to go around talking to different
people in various countries, asking them to produce
sounds in relation to these stories, and gather them.

Atsushi Fukunaga; Marvelous Catchphrase – Untitled 01–(2016); textured acrylic sheet, cutting sheet, aluminumboard, frame; 51.4 x 26.4 x 4.5 cm

21

22

Miya HiroLeft: Miya Hiro, Bad mood Bach (2016), acrylic on paper, 170 x 70 cm
Right: Miya Hiro, Bad mood Leibniz (2016), acrylic on paper, 170 x 70 cm

23Building a restaurant in Hokkaido

One Cut One Bow interviewed Miya Hiro on 4 May
2016. He is currently an artist-in-residence at Das
Japanisch Haus, Leipzig. When we got to know
Miya, he seemed to be involved in everything
possible, from showing his manga at the Leipzig
Book Fair 2016 to drawing on the glass windows of akebab shop in the neighbourhood. At the time of
publication, he had just completed art workshops withchildren in Japan and Germany, with upcoming onesin Lithuania and Spain. Originally from Chiba, Japan,
Miya has been living in Leipzig since 2015. He spoke
to us about his forays in carpentry, performance, art
education, and painting, and his approach towards
his practice, embracing social connections as heexperiments with new techniques and collaborations.

teacher in high school invited me to apply to theuniversity he went to.
When I entered university, I wanted to learn painting.
When drawing a still life, my university professor said
that when I look at the apple, I would have to beaware of the apple being on the table, the table beingon earth, and to feel the universe. It was crazy. I
couldn’t think in that way. I thought that since I
couldn’t have that kind of sensibility, I couldn’t be an
artist.
I was involved in the university festival together withthe community. In the university neighbourhood, I
played taiko for a community group and weorganised a festival. We made floats with bamboo,
including a roof and lanterns on a truck, and had aparade around the neighbourhood. My friends inuniversity were in contemporary theatre and dance,and I helped them with the stage design,
photography, and did some performance.

One Cut One Bow (OCOB): If you don't mind, could
you tell us a bit of your background?
Miya Hiro (MH): I was born in 1986 in Chiba, a fishing
town in Japan. I started painting when I was inkindergarten. My grandmother likes art and she said
that I could be an artist. I didn’t believe it though. I
also played taiko (Japanese drums) in large festivals.
In 1997, I entered a business-oriented high school
and did commerce.

I also went to Okinawa for a project about nature andenergy. I was helping there for two weeks and madefriends with someone who built a restaurant in
Hokkaido. I went to Hokkaido twice, for two weeks
each time. I made their website and did somecarpentry. The construction of the straw bale housetook a total of two years though they couldn’t workover the winter months as it snows a lot in Hokkaido.
I then went to India and it was a big surprise for me.

Eventually, I had to think about my future plans. I
could have chosen a field related to finance andbusiness but I had enough by then. I told my teacher
that if I were to do business at university, my soul
would die. I wanted to do art.

OCOB: Which part of India were you in?

I was in the judo club in junior high school, but quit
after three months. I didn’t like the violence andhierarchy. After that, I joined the art club. However,
we only played around and drew manga. My art

MH: I was mainly in the west, in Mumbai, Jaisalmer,
Agra, then went to the south, to Kanyakumari,Kerala, Goa, then back to Mumbai. I was very
surprised by what I saw and it made me realise that I
24

was not interested in ninety percent of things in mylife back in Japan. Many things are commercialized
and going to India made me feel that Japan is filledwith unnecessary things.

why but I had a lot of energy that I wanted to pursue.
I went back to Chiba and started painting a lot. My
friend in Shikano would sometimes ask me to help
out at his restaurant and invited me to do an
exhibition. At the exhibition, someone bought myworks and the neighbours were very kind to me.

OCOB: What did you experience in India to makeyou feel that way?

After a year, in 2014, an empty school had a room foran artist without rent. My friend’s restaurant had abackyard with a small shed. I had a studio, lived in
the shed, and I could eat for free as I helped myfriend’s restaurant by washing dishes and doing theaccounts. I would walk 10 minutes to a public bathand my friend would give me a ticket for it.

MH: One morning, I saw two people sawing a metal
pipe on a street. I walked around the city andreturned to my hotel later. They were still sawing it! In
Japan, that would be done in an instant. On the train,a child cleaning the floor gestured for some money toeat. I agreed and gave some money. Soon, morechildren came. I couldn’t any more money! I saw
people by the riverside covered with a white cloth. My
friend told me that a few days before, someone had
killed them. These were all new to me; situations that
I would never see in Japan. When I returned toJapan, I started to do photography and mygraduation work was actually with photographs.

I had a big exhibition at the theatre festival with a live
painting performance. Eventually, I went back to myhometown and left for Europe. It was too comfortable
at Tottori and back home, such that I couldn’t grow. I
decided to travel to have a change of perspective.

After graduating from university, I joined a theatre
project in university, and was able to stay in schoolaccommodation for another month. After that, I went
back home. We have a family business with aconvenience store and business hotel. At that time,
my grandfather said that the business hotel would
have to close. I then started a business, changed thehotel name, and its image. With my little bit ofcarpentry experience, I worked on the design andconstruction, and did accounting.
I started in 2010 but after half a year, there was a big
earthquake with a tsunami near my hotel. Although
my family and people around me were safe, it mademe realize that if something happened to my building,
I would have no business. I then thought of picking
up a skill.
Life in Tottori
I joined a carpentry school for a year and was taught
traditional skills, for example, fixing wood together
without nails. I liked it and wanted to learn more. I
found a miyadaiku (a carpenter who handles
traditional Japanese structures) in Tottori and asked
to join them. I had to get up early at 6 am, cook foreveryone, and after work ended, cook for people
again. It was hierarchical with the boss as king and I
found it hard to fit in. The work was also tough and I
had backaches.
One Sunday, I went to a restaurant and began talking
to the owner there about my situation. She told me to
go to Shikano, a town about 30 minutes away by car.
I decided to go there and chatted to people I met
along the way. Bit by bit, I began to make friends.
The town has an NPO that connects people to eachother. There was this guy who lived near Shikano.
One day, several elderly people from Shikano cameand asked him to open a pizza restaurant as Shikano
had many empty houses. The NPO also persuadedsome of the house owners to use their empty houses
for a theatre festival. I helped out at the festival aswell as my friend’s restaurant. They made tacos but
since they were amateurs, the tacos didn’t taste
good. But they kept trying and it got better little bylittle.

Art workshops in Shikano, Tottori

Many children came to the festival in Shikano, andone or two children were painting with crayons. I
started to paint together with them and I don’t know

25

Miya Hiro with Ana Magallanes and Coral Castillo Mar (2016), acrylic on canvas, 200 x 350 cm

Departure to Europe and Leipzig

do so here in Leipzig, as the living costs are low. I’m
thinking of using a Japanese hand plane next.

I went to Portugal and Paris. There were not many
artists in Portugal and Paris was just too expensive.
While in Paris, I checked out Berlin on the internet.
But it was also expensive with too many people. I
then decided to do a search for “Germany” and“empty house” in Japanese….and found Das
Japanisch Haus in Leipzig.

OCOB: How does it work?
MH: It’s a traditional Japanese tool used for shaving
wood. When you use it well, you get very long, thin,and transparent shavings. I’m hoping to use thewood shavings for paper.

I came to Leipzig, did an exhibition, made friends andgot to learn about the culture here. I recently went
back to Tottori with the organiser of Das JapanischHaus and an artist who had lived in Leipzig andMunich. We did a Küche für Alle (communal cooking
event) and a presentation, and I held an exhibition,
Eisenbahnstrasse (named after the street Das
Japanisch Haus is on).
My recent project is Together Painting, a series ofcollaborative paintings. It was held here in Das
Japanisch Haus during a film festival about “nonukes”. I collaborated with two artists from Spain. We
couldn’t speak, but we could paint together. This was
my first time painting with them. It was very
interesting working with Ana. When I started withyellow, she started with blue. There were then many
colours used, and after a while, I wanted to use blackand realized that she had the black paint. When I
wanted to use white, she had the white paint.
OCOB: The works seem very cohesive. Did thecollaborative process feel natural?
MH: I was surprised. It turned out to be very good. At
our first collaboration, we painted a 2 m by 3.5 m
piece in a day, working in a studio at the Spinnerei(an old cotton mill converted into art spaces).
OCOB: It's surprising to see 24 K gold in a painting.

Miya Hiro, Ana Magallanges and Coral Castillo Mar(2016), acrylic and 24k gold on Japanese paper,
90 x 60 cm

MH: If I live in Paris, I wouldn’t be able to use it. I can
26

Miya Hiro, King eats dragon (2014), oil on canvas, 80 × 65 cm

Planting art seeds

and Bad mood Leibniz (2016). There are also a
number of dragons in your works, such as King eats
dragon (2014).

MH: Shikano has a small mascot called
Umamonado, created by someone with a handicap,
called Umada. Monado refers to a theory from
Leibniz and coincidentally, there is a bronze statue of
him in Leipzig University. We would paintUmamonado during the art workshops. After I left
Tottori, a boy came up with his own story of
Umamonado When the city of Shikano asked me tomake a children’s book about Umamonado, the boy’s
story became the inspiration for the children’s book.

MH: When I was a child, I liked Dragonball a lot andpainted many Dragonball characters but founddragons too decorative when I got older. I once saw
a painting of a dragon in a gallery and thought thatthe artist was trying too hard to make it cool.
However, I one day found myself painting dragons
back in 2014! Maybe something within me changed. I
liked gold when I was a child, but soon found it too
showy. I didn’t like how it is a symbol of money. But
now, I’m able to think that gold is equal to othermaterials.

The story goes through Umamonado’s life, from thetime he plants a seed, till the moment he falls in love,
has a baby, and is finally alone. He doesn’t have any
facial expressions and so readers are not able to see
how he feels. The story ends with Umamonado, now
alone, planting another seed.
Recently, I got know about the artist Joseph Beuys.
He said that all people are artists. That is also what I
think. My friend who runs the restaurant said to me
that a plant on the street is just a plant. However,when we take it, we make it precious, and when weput it on a dish, it becomes food. I think that theseideas are connected to art. I might find a stone in thestreet, but when I put it in the gallery, it becomes art.
I am looking for such art seeds in my life, forexample, the Umamonado project and coming to Das
Japanisch Haus in Leipzig.
OCOB: Your paintings are very energetic and I
couldn’t help smiling when I looked at your works andread the titles. For example, Bad mood Bach (2016)

Miya Hiro and Maiko Date, Sawer Umamonado PictureBook (2015), 16 pages

27

Taiko performance in Australia

OCOB: It sounds like you have more freedom now.

OCOB: Is it something like the appearance of yourworks or is it something more spiritual?

MH: Yes, bit by bit, I have gained more freedom. Last
year, an artist who painted portraits came here for amonth. It made me want to try it and I could! I wasn’t
able to before and being here opened my mind.
Many people come to Das Japanisch Haus and playmusic. The combination of live performances and art
is something that is very interesting for me.

MH: Spiritual. I also learn "qi". It’s about believingthat I can do something. If I cannot believe it, I cannot
do it. I wonder a lot about things around me. I know
only a little bit. There are many, many things that I do
not know. When I’m in a different place, I have a
different way of making. However, I don’t change. It’s
like an onion. I don't know what the core eventuallyis. But I enjoy peeling off the layers. My feelings
change all the time and I experience ups and downs.
Till now, I have been doing painting, business, taiko,carpentry, etc. and I feel that I haven’t pursued eachfield well enough. But I believe that many things
connect to each other.

OCOB: Do you play music now?
MH: I sometimes play taiko. I begged my mum tosend them here. They’re cheap, and I just play themfor fun.
One of my friends, a professional taiko drummer, wasthinking for a long time about his future and about
whether to continue taiko or switch to a moreconventional career. He then decided to do a working
holiday in Australia in 2013. When I saw his drum
performance on Facebook, I went to Australia andperformed on the street with him. We played the coreof Japanese songs from Tokyo, Saitama, the north,and east, which are very energetic. Traditional songs
have changed over the years but the core of thesetunes is still perceptible. I think this experience isconnected to my paintings.

OCOB: And you also make the connections. You doa lot of different things but you often come back topainting. I’m curious about that.
MH: Painting doesn’t need skill. If I lose one arm, I
can use the other. I tell the participants of my art
workshop, “You have enough skills. When you want
to be more skilful, you just have to practice. But
skilfulness and being good are two different things.”
When I was a university student, my favourite
painting was of the dream restaurant by my friend
who runs a restaurant in Hokkaido. I could feel his
energy, dream, and focus.

OCOB: Do you feel that there is a core in yourpaintings?

When I make a sculpture, I have to consider manythings. The process and time spent changes how I
feel. Painting allows you to be instinctive and to
express how you feel immediately. Sometimes, when
I paint, the painting says, “No!” and when I want to dosomething, it says, “Do this, do that.” I want to makeworks that are original and come from my heart, andthe process of painting offers me that.

MH: My paintings are not usually the same and arealways changing. But, there is a core that I am
finding a little bit of.
OCOB: How would you describe what you havefound so far?
MH: Maybe it’s this thing about everyone being an
artist.

28

One Cut One Bow
isMagdalen Chua and Ryotaro Hoshino
Eisenbahnstr. 115
04315, Leipzig
Germany
onecutonebow@gmail.com
onecutonebow.wordpress.com