Water & Mountains:
A Wonder-Land on
Ecology and Society

林田 真季

January 30(Tue) – March 3 (Sun), 2024
Weekdays: 11:00–19:00

Maki Hayashida

Sundays and holidays: 11:00–18:00

Closed Mondays

I studied MA Photography at University of the Arts London from October 2022 to December 2023. Water Wonderland (2022-2023)
is my MA project, on which I spent the entire period of approximately 15 months. I arrived at this project because I was originallyworking on Beyond the Mountains (2019-ongoing), a project about illegal dumping in Japan. Both share similarities in that theunintended consequences of waste management have largely impacted on nature.

(including national holidays falling on Monday)
Organized by Shiseido Company, Limited

While developing my own projects in London, I was constantly forced to consider the questions 'what is art' and 'what is an artist'in contemporary society. There is no fixed answer to these questions. There is no single answer either. It is important to have ourMaki Hayashida

own answers to these questions. In my case, as someone who works in the medium of photography, I then faced another1984 Born in Osakaquestion: 'What is contemporary photography as art?' As I spent time in Europe being exposed to diverse arts, my own answers

2007 BA Policy Studies, Kansei Gakuin University

to them gradually became clearer. At the very least, I can say that this exhibition reflects all the answers I now have.

2023 MA Photography, London College of Communication, University of the Arts London
Based in Tokyo

When it came to establishing my artistic practice, I first and foremost questioned representation in photographs. No photographcan represent the real world as it is. Various technologies in recent years have made it easier for us to 'make' photographs
digitally, and its representation has become a more immediate question in terms of whether a photograph is realistic or not.

Career highlights to date

However, I would say that photographs have always been something we ‘make’ from the beginning of its emergence. This is2023 LUMA Rencontres Dummy Book Award, Les Rencontres d'Arles, shortlist, France

because we as photographers always observe our subject matters with a conscious or unconscious bias. We always capture them

2021 Exhibition “KG+SELECT” KYOTOGRAPHIE International PhotographyFestival, Kyoto, Japan

with some kind of intention. However, we as viewers tend to regard photographs as reproductions of reality, particularly whenlooking at them without much thought. With those in mind, I decided to develop my projects in such a way that the subject matterof the image is not the subject of the work. This requires not only me to think but also the viewer to think.

Artist HP: https://www.makihayashida.com/

In Water Wonderland, I undertook archaeological excavation of historic coastal landfill sites in the UK, using a range ofphotographic methods and photographic printing techniques. This includes cataloguing the sites, with a consideration of how
Maki Hayashida is continuing her research-based project with photography to address the realities of the consumer society thateach method of photographic classification unearths new material connotations about the landfill. All images are therefore visualsurrounds us today. Conscious of the seemingly contradictory boundaries between "documentary" and "expressive" photographic

interpretations of my research into the subjects and the subject matters, rather than straightforward records. Additionally, early onmedia, she explores the deeper issues that lie within the realities of consumer society.

in its research process, I also realised that this physical landfill of waste and the current situation where massive amounts of digital

In recent years, she has chosen as research subjects historic coastal landfill sites in the United Kingdom and illegal dumping inphotographs are being generated and stored one after the other are very close to each other. As such, my work is simultaneously

Japan, and has developed projects titled Water Wonderland (2022-2023) and Beyond the Mountains (2019-). The common subject

intended to question the materiality and reproducibility of photography. Following the same approach, I then reexamined the seriesof both projects is to examine the law of "unintended consequences," a social science term, within the context of a consumer

Beyond the Mountains and completed The Stacks (2023), for this exhibition.

society. The term describes that the consequences of deliberate actions are often unforeseen and might ultimately make asituation worse.

The subject matters of the photographs presented here from the two series are the historic coastal landfill sites in the UK and theThis exhibition, Water & Mountains: A Wonder-Land on Ecology and Society, which shows parts of the projects, gathers fragments

waste management facilities in Japan respectively, but the subjects of the works are all ‘the unintended consequences’. In theof reality in which these "unintended consequences" are revealed, and comprises an installation with photographic media. In thisgallery space, each body of work constitutes an installation, aiming to provide a sense of wonderland and a place for deepway, the exhibition attempts to bring a "wonder-land" to viewers allowing them to direct their consciousness toward the social

thought, ‘wonder-land’, at the same time. Yet, their interpretation is open to the viewer. This is what I consider as art.

realities of the world. At the same time, it is a challenge to examine the power of photography in the digital age of information
overload. For Hayashida, photography is a sincere practice to confront everyday issues that exist everywhere today.

HPInstagram

Maki Hayashida, January 2024

X⑨《LOOKOUT #2-4》(from left)

2023

the stains and rust on the plates, which were unintentionallyare not harmful to the earth, the organic matter remained in

Inkjet print (as a set of 3), single channel video with soundcreated during the production process, I am questioning whether

them may cause a chemical reaction and become toxic.

Hand-tinted gelatin silver print

1,875 x 1,500 mm (each)humans can really control everything perfectly.

Furthermore, by continuing such dumping for years andUnique piecechanging the contents of the waste, it is also exposing us to toxic

10 x 8 inch (each)chemicals.

From the series “Water Wonderland,” 2022-2023①《Water Wonderland》 2022-2023

From the series “Water Wonderland,” 2022-2023
Water Wonderland
A black-and-white photograph taken at a historic coastal landfillsite in the UK is hand-coloured to add a layer of fiction, in a way
obscuring the specificity and temporality of the site. This
ambiguity is further emphasised by projection of a moving image
piece from various landfill sites.
The audio, recorded at another site, includes the calling of crows
along with ducks and other waterbirds. The Japanese associate
crows with the beauty of the sunset but also with garbage.
Neither is the case for the British. Such minor discrepancy inlatent perceptions is said to be one factor of the unintended
consequences.

The Japanese associate waste with incineration. Annual statistics
by the Ministry of the Environment Government of Japan showthat about 80% of waste is directly incinerated. However, this islimited to municipal waste. In the past, all waste in Japan wasdisposed of by local authorities. Due to the massive increase inwaste resulting from rapid economic growth, the law wasamended in 1970 to classify waste into ‘municipal waste' and'industrial waste'. The former is still the responsibility of each
local authority and is handled in well-controlled incinerationsuch landfills are not clearly known. More than 1,000 of them aredefined as historic coastal landfills, many of which are now nature
reserves or parks at high risk of flooding and erosion. As such,they have the potential to cause diffuse pollution, with climate

hand-colourists in early photography were rarely credited for theirworks. Many of them are said to have been women.
The title is a reference to Winter Wonderland in London as
representative of consumerism in the UK. It is also a reference toLewis Carol’s Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
② 《The Stacks》 2023
21 steel plates, ink mixed with ash on paper
420 x 297 mm (each plate), 75 x 200 mm (each text work)

chemicals which should not be together could be unexpectedly
dangerous. This is just like why landﬁll waste without reliable

such as airports, high-rise buildings, highways, and residences;
there is also a wide variety of designs to take into account theBritish monarchy. By presenting it as a portrait photograph, theKodak's colour photographic paper represents photography that

subject in front of the camera.

other hand, is the responsibility of emitters and wide-area
treatment by intermediate companies has been permitted. This at
one point led to uncontrolled private business and massive
amounts of industrial waste being dumped illegally.

perspectives of both a photographer behind the camera and ain the past was mass-marketed as commodity for consumption. In
response to changes in the market, the company no longer③《Re-collectionⅠ》 2023
Inkjet print on lightbox
1,200 x 1,200 x 100mm
From the series “Water Wonderland,” 2022-2023

accordingly, their facial structures are slightly diﬀerent. To me, atechnology changes and so does waste. Acrylic and polyester

beak of swan is yellow, so I painted it yellow. If ornithologists see

used in the installation also represent this. Both are plastic
materials, which did not exist in the older time.

this photo, they can easily tell this is ﬁctitious. Again, such minor

In Japan, since glass bottles became common around 1900, they

unintended consequences.

discrepancies in potential perceptions could contribute to thehave almost never been transported directly to landﬁlls as such.
④《Re-collectionⅡ #1-5》 2023

Most swans in the UK have orange beaks while most swans inJapan have yellow. They are diﬀerent species of swans;produces any darkroom photographic paper. As times change,Thus, the Japanese rarely associate them with objects fromAll four photographs are printed from a single negative. By
presenting these photographs as a set, I am attempting toC-print on expired Kodak photographic paper

landﬁlls, but rather subconsciously regard them as something

Unique piecevaluable that should not be landﬁlled. This is why I photographed

20 x 16 inch (each)the fragments of glass bottles as jewels.

emphasise that images are always constructed; they are never an
objective or transparent record of reality, even those captured by
the lens of a camera.

From the series “Water Wonderland,” 2022-2023⑧《LOOKOUT #1》 2023⑤《Re-collectionⅢ #5, #3, #4, #1, #2》（from left） 2023

Inkjet printing on wallpaperInkjet print in vintage frame

1,300 x 1,000 mm

210 x 210 mm (each)

From the series “Water Wonderland,” 2022-2023⑨

From the series “Water Wonderland,” 2022-2023⑥《Re-collectionⅣ #1-6》（from left） 2023

⑧mezzanine④③

Inkjet print on acrylic, biodegradable
From the series “Water Wonderland,” 2022-2023

maximum of 210 m, depending on the surrounding environment,sites, I chose a swan as my sitter due to its connection with therecords can be problematic, as it is harmless on its own, butwork attempts to reexamine the 'gaze' in photography from the105 x 105 x 20 mm (each)of the chimney. The heights range from a minimum of 41 m to aof ʻWonderlandʼ. Among waterbirds at the historic coastal landﬁllsubstances.

23 Cities of Tokyo Metropolis are depicted on steel plates forside of the plate, indicating the name of the plant and the height

victim-to-be of this human impact on nature, as well as a resident

incineration plants in the 23 Cities of Tokyo. The latter, on theThe chimneys of all 21 incineration plants jointly operated by thephotoetching. The title of each image is etched on the reverse

A gaze of waterbird is depicted as an observer and the ﬁrst

developer, which should not have happened. The mixture ofFrom the series “Beyond the Mountains,” 2019-ongoing
The Stacks

LOOKOUT

unexpectedly toxic when mixed with various wastes and otherchange further increasing this risk.
Just as there are no records of historic landfill sites,

created by mixing a colour ﬁlm system with a black-and-whiteplants within the discharge area, as symbolised by the 21 waste

A historic landfill is a site where there is no environmental permit
in force. Due to a lack of reliable records, the contents of mostThe production process of Polaroid Blue 600 Film was accidentally⑤⑦⑦《Re-collectionⅤ #1-7》（from left） 2023
Polaroid Blue 600 Film reworked digital on polyester
2,000 x 1,000 mm (each)⑥

From the series “Water Wonderland,” 2022-2023

impact on the landscape and surrounding residents. The service
life of the plants is around 25-30 years, and they are being
reconstructed in turn.

Re-collection

landﬁll site, using the power of photography which allows us towith ashes from burning waste. However, it turned out that waste

see what is invisible to the naked eye. The glass fragments areashes are very dangerous and can only be handled by authorised

represented as fragments of waste from an older time. The

organisations and people. This means that waste management isdevelopment of the modern landﬁll in the UK is said to have beenabsence of incinerator ash by showing plates on which the ink
was to be placed, rather than printed material. Also, by leaving①

I depicted fragments of glass bottles found in a historic coastal

My initial idea was to print those 21 photographs with ink mixedvery well controlled. I therefore decided to emphasise the②led by the Public Health Act 1875, when most of the waste wasnatural materials such as glass. Although glass bottles themselves

Reception