This is a book of records of the exhibition 'Ding-dong, ding-dong' -Bells ringing at the bottom of the valley- by Tohru Nakazaki at SHIBUYA SKY (23 Jan - 31 Mar 2024). I have planned the signage, bound the book, edited and contributed to the book.
Nakasaki conducted interviews with three people of very different ages, genders and professions, who have led unique lives while being deeply involved with the city of Shibuya. The three lives, which never intersected, were spun together with a group of works, mainly new works. Through the fragments scattered across the stage, the viewer may have had the contours of the city shaken by the discrepancy between the image of the city seen from the sky above SHIBUYA SKY and what lies before their eyes. By coming into contact with the differences between the episodes and their own lives, they may have also experienced the rise in the contours of themselves and glimpsed the closeness of the influences between society and the individual. How does an individual live within a larger current, something that can only be seen through the intersection of three people who would never cross paths, is visualised here.
In planning the signage for this exhibition, I aimed to create a space in which the redevelopment work would flow underneath, and extracted the visual language of the construction site with green tiger tape, rough postings with the tape, A-shaped barricades, green and red cones, etc. In the book's binding, I tried to create a "temporary" space that would evoke the feeling of this construction site. In the binding of the book, the booklet is not bound with thread or glue but rubberised, and the small edges are not trimmed, giving the book an unfinished appearance, in order to give it a sense of "temporary" construction. The "dialogue between text and installation", which is one of the most appealing aspects of Nakazaki's work, is created by making a difference between the size of the text pages and the size of the installation photographs, so that the dialogue is unique to the time-based medium of a book. The book is designed in such a way that both those who have seen the exhibition and those who have not can enjoy the work in a different way.
I would be happy if people from all walks of life - those who are negative about the redevelopment work (that's me), those who are positive, those who are involved in redevelopment, those who are not, those who are not interested in Shibuya, and those who are interested - could take a look at this book.The discrepancy that forms between Nakasaki's work and the self that sees it may become something that clarifies your own contours.
-From the introduction to the exhibition below.
Have you ever heard of a type of trousers called bell-bottoms?
Through a strange coincidence, I met the owner of a shop in Shibuya that has specialised in bell-bottoms since the 1990s. In the old days of the Vietnam War, a style of trousers was worn by soldiers with the hems of their trousers sticking out of their boots as a form of resistance to the war, The bellbottom is said to have originated in the shape of a "bell", which was used by soldiers to resist war. In the USA, it was reminiscent of the Liberty Bell, which is a symbol of freedom, peace and love, It is said to have spread as a fashion symbol of freedom, peace and love.
Owner of a shop specialising in bell-bottoms, A man who was involved in the urban development of Shibuya, A woman who currently strolls the streets of Shibuya and loves techno music, The words of these three people were used as a motif to weave a story. From this location overlooking Tokyo and Shibuya, listen carefully to the "sound of the bells at the bottom of the valley", which continue to ring out powerfully from beneath your feet.
All photos by Village Farm Press
