birdhouses / 鳥の巣
Watamichi - Niigata
JAPAN
2007


Designed within an old liquor shop, the installation repurposed the wooden boxes used as seats into a metaphorical tower. Each box became a birdhouse within which stories on paper were hidden. The visitors interacted with the boxes by peeping inside, discovering watermarked messages on the backlit Japanese washi paper. This washi is hand-made mulberry pulp from locally harvested tree bark following the four seasons of its making. The watermarks were either created by layering white type on the surface of the paper or by introducing layers while making the sheets (wet process).

Each box is 60 x 60 x 60 cms
Paper inside varies between small tear shaped 10.5 x 6 cm washi and 29 x 39 cm suspended watermarked washi sheets