After the exhibition period had been finalized I came to Amabiki to look at the exhibition area. That was this time last year. The fields were filled with rice about to be harvested, and in some fields harvesting had already begun. Because the exhibition lasts for three months, the surrounding environment inevitably changes from the time the exhibition starts to the time it ends. And therefore the exhibits must be visible through the fresh green of the sultry summer to the cooler nights that announce winter’s approach. Over the course of six months I kept coming back, to be inspired by the environment and to find the perfect place for my creation, a place where my sculpture wouldn’t clash with or get in the way of any of the other exhibits.
However, at that point I didn’t know who would be bringing what kind of exhibits, and therefore I wasn’t really thinking about how my sculpture would fit in to the exhibit as a whole. I chose a location on the promise that each exhibition would be self-contained and discrete unit. But as soon as the exhibition opened, you could see each artist’s individual personality begin to come through and merge giving the exhibition an organic life of its own, bringing the area to life and creating an almost living creature of sculpture and scenery. We expect people that ‘make things’ to lack a sense of cooperativeness with others, but through this exhibition I have realized that joining forces in our expression benefits both the individual and the group as a whole.
As a participating artist I am a person that ‘makes things’, but this does not mean I am profound in the wisdom of art. Some exhibits are very straightforward, while others are a bit more difficult to understand. For example, if there was nudity. The sculpture title would be ‘Woman’, People feel a sense of relief. Humans feel relieved when they see things that they understand. But can we really say that this ‘touches’ us? The reality is that there are many things that become uninteresting when we know their purpose.
A map and pamphlet, with short comments from each artist, is made available at ‘Sitrus’, the first sculpture in the exhibition. The comments vary, with some very straightforward descriptions to short poems by artists who can’t express their thoughts in any other way. Viewing the sculptures in light of these comments makes going round the exhibition that bit more interesting.
The concrete objects and scrap metal on the side of the road, which could be mistaken for part of the exhibition, are just fallen down road signs. Some of them might carelessly catch your eye and have you thinking ‘Look at that! I wonder who the artist is? It’s quite good!’ Looking at these as you take in the intended sculptures is perhaps an unexpected way of enjoying this exhibition.I first participated in the second AMABIKI exhibition in 1997. Since then I have continued to be involved with the installation and removal of exhibits. For this exhibition, I spent the two weeks set aside for installing the sculptures driving around the various locations in a 4-tonne truck.So, even though it had become a route with which I was familiar, I decided to ride a bicycle around it to take another overall look at the exhibition in preparation for writing this piece. Travelling around the exhibit at a speed somewhere between walking and driving, I noticed a lot of little changes that hadn’t previously realized to me before. When I was a child I had to walk 8km to get to school. And it was through scenery very similar to this. I still remember the big rocks left in the middle of fields, the stacked of pile of old cars and scrap metal, and thinking that it looked like they all just existed as part of the natural environment. I think the foundation for creating my sculptures lies in those things I didn’t understand as a small child.
While most of the artists in this exhibition vary in age and profession, we are all professionals who want to make a living from sculpting. Not even a psychic could take one look and correctly interpret these exhibits, which have evolved out of an extended prosses of trial and error. In fact, in some cases, not even the artists themseves completely know the meaning behind their work. So, how is someone else able to understand? But it’s not about understanding. Don’t look at something mysterious and try to draw rational conclusion about it. Sculptures are made to be looked at as they are, in their full mysterious entirety.
Lastly, I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to everyone who came from far and wide to view the exhibition, and to the local Amabiki community, for the various facets of support they provided in helping make this exhibition a reality. In particular, I would like to say a special thank-you to the landowners, with whom we shared ‘the space’, and with whom the artists grew close. We are all very grateful. I believe that AMABIKI is providing new possibilities as an expressive ‘space’ in what is already a saturated arts scene.

MATSUDA Bumpei, participating artist