ウェブサイト 「二元論を超えて」

Nakajima Hiroyuki artist/calligrapher

６歳から書を学びはじめた。数十年が経ち、自在に筆を操れるようになった。思うように書けるようになった時、転機が訪れた。

古くなった墨をそうとは知らずに使ったら、墨が見る間に広がって未知の滲みが現れた。特大の紙を床に敷き全身で大筆を振るったら、そこに思いがけない線とかたちが出来ていた。巧みな手技は目論見どおりの100点をもたらしてくれる。だが偶然の介入は思惑を超えた120点を生むことを知った。水面下にある氷山のような、未だ見ぬ自分を探ることが出来た。

この経験から「自然」と「身体」が制作のキーワードになった。人間と自然、脳と身体の関係を考え直す機会になった。二元論は人間と自然、脳と身体を分断してきた。人間は主体であり自然は客体、自然は人間によって制御される。脳は司令塔であり身体は道具、身体は脳によって操作される。

この常識に揺さぶりをかけたい。この二項対立を脱構築する作品をつくりたい。人間も自然の一部であり、自然とともにある。自然を制御するのではなく、自然に立ち還ること。脳も身体の一部であり、身体とともにある。身体を操作するのではなく、身体の声を聴くこと。

この思考の延長上にシリーズ「地球の化石」と「身体の声を聴く」は生まれた。

地球の化石

床にキャンバスを広げ、墨を入れたグラスを手に裸足で画面に踏み込む。筆を放棄することで身体を脳のコントロールから解放する。身体は太極拳の動きとなり、手足が円弧を描く。グラスの墨はパッとキャンバスに飛び散り、線とかたちが現前する。グラスを置くと墨は生き物のようにキャンバスの上をさまよい、溜まる。後はただ待つのみ。自分の仕事は半分まで、後の半分は素材がもつ自然の力にゆだねる。この時、キャンバスは自然現象を喚起する場に変わる。
幾晩かして墨が乾くとそこに不思議な模様が浮かび上がる。まるで目の前に地球の化石が現れたように。その瞬間、母なる大地は何千年の時を超えて我々にメッセージを送る。

人間は大地が蓄えた炭素を燃やし続けてきた。

大地に眠る金を掘り続けてきた。

燃やされた炭素は産業のエネルギーになり、地球温暖化を引き起こした。

掘り出された金は財貨となり、富を象徴する存在となった。

そして地球は沸騰化し、貧富の格差は極まっている。

炭素も金も大地に還るべき時が来ている。

身体の声を聴く

長い間、身体は脳の道具のように扱われてきた。そして今、IT革命が脱身体を加速する中、身体は道具としての地位も失いつつある。そもそも身体は脳の道具なのか？「頭脳／身体」の二項対立は暗黙のうちに頭脳を優位にする。だが、頭も身体の一部と考えると脱構築の別の景色が見えてくる。身体の声が聴こえてくる。
これまで私は身体に備わる力を再認識することを意図し、身体の軌跡を画面上にしるすことで作品としてきた。このシリーズでは高速連写のように身体の動きを捉え、体動のダイナミズムを描いている。この時、キャンバスは身体の軌跡を可視化する場に変わる。

脳：お前は私の完全な指揮下にある。

身体：いえ、私はあなたの道具ではありません。

脳：何を言っているんだ！

身体：あなたも身体の一部だと言っているんです。

脳：冗談じゃない！ロボットがあれば、遅かれ早かれ私はお前なしでもやっていける。

身体：私の声を聴いて。さもないと、今度はあなたが将来A Iの道具になってしまいますよ。

Web: BEYOND DUALISM

I began studying traditional Japanese calligraphy at the age of six. Over the course of several decades, I gradually honed my skills in this art form. Just when I felt that I had reached a high level of mastery with the brush, an incident in my studio caused me to re-evaluate my practice.

One day, I accidentally used some old and somewhat decayed sumi ink. When I applied it to the rice paper, I noticed that it spread more quickly than usual and that there were distinctive patterns of the ink that I had never seen before. When I then took a large calligraphy brush and wrote a character on a large sheet of paper using the movement of my whole body, unexpected lines appeared. I began to realize that while the controlled mastery and skilful techniques I had learnt over so many years could produce a satisfactory result of, say, 100 points, these uncontrollable 'chance' interventions could raise the score to 120 points, surpassing initial expectations. This revelation allowed me to explore my unknown self, much like the unseen part of an iceberg lurking beneath the surface.

Through this surprising experience, the broad concepts of 'nature' and 'body' became central to my artistic exploration. It gave me the opportunity to re-evaluate the relationship between man and nature, and between the brain and the body. Dualism has long divided human and nature, and brain and body. Humans are the subjects and nature is the object - controlled by humans. Similarly, the brain is seen as the command centre and the body as a mere tool controlled by the brain.

I wanted to challenge this accepted view. I decided to create works that deconstruct this binary opposition. From my perspective, humans are part of nature and should coexist with it. Rather than controlling nature, we should return to being an element of the natural world. Similarly, the brain is part of the body and coexists with it. Instead of controlling the body, it should listen to the body.

This idea led me to create my "Fossils of the Earth" series and "Listen to the Body" series.

Fossils of the earth

I roll out a large canvas on the floor and walk barefoot on it, holding a glass of sumi ink in my hand. I renounce the use of a brush in order to distance myself from a skillful, controlled brushwork. My body movement becomes similar to Tai Chi, with my hands and feet tracing arcs. With my movement, I allow the sumi ink in the glass to splash onto the canvas, creating shapes and lines that exceed my expectations.

After I put the glass down, the sumi ink takes on a life of its own, spreading and puddling on the surface of the canvas. All I can do is wait patiently for several nights. I see my role as only half of the process; the other half relies on the inherent qualities of the material itself. At this point the canvas has become a field for a natural phenomenon to take place.

Eventually, once the pooled ink dries, a unique and distinctive pattern appears on the canvas. It looks as if a fossil from deep in the earth, has emerged before my eyes. It is the moment when Mother Earth sends us a message from beyond many thousands of years.

Humans have continued to burn carbon stored in the earth.

Humans have continued to dig up gold that sleeps in the earth.

The burned carbon became energy for industry, causing global warming.

The excavated gold became currency and a symbol of wealth.

Now, average global temperatures are continuing to rise.

Wealth inequality is greater than ever.

The time has come for both carbon and gold to be returned to the earth.

Listen to the body

Throughout human history, the body has been regarded as a tool for the brain. Recently the I.T. revolution is continuing to deprive us of opportunities to use our body. Now the body may be losing even this position as a tool. In the first place, is the body a tool of the brain at all? The brain & the body, both are compared using binary opposition. It has long been considered that the former is superior to the latter. But when we regard the brain as a part of the body, we can see another scenery based on the theory of deconstruction. We can listen to our body. In order to see the true nature of the body in a new light, I have been making artwork which transmits my body's movements directly onto the paper as tracks of my action. In this series, I expressed physical movement to reconsider our physicality, almost like successive images created by high-speed photography. At this point, the canvas becomes a field where the movements of my body are recorded as traces of my action.

Brain: You're completely under my control.

Body: No, I'm not your tool.

Brain: What are you talking about!?

Body: I'm saying you're a part of the body.

Brain: You're kidding! Sooner or later I'll be able to get along well without you, with the help of robots.

Body: Listen to me. Otherwise, you will be a tool of AI in future.