Exhibition location: Villa Sotetsu
Title: Drift Object
2022 buoy, cycad leaves, color spray
This is a circular object made in the shape of a cycad, made from two types of buoys that washed up on Amami Oshima.Viewers can update the appearance of the object by adding new cycad leaves.
The cycad (Basho) is a plant native to China, and is now widely known as a bonsai tree, but in Amami Oshima it was once used as a famine relief plant to extract starch from its trunks and fruits. Its fibers are also used to make kimonos called Bashagin, to hold back soil in fields to prevent soil erosion, its leaves to replenish iron in muddy fields where Oshima Tsumugi silk is dyed, and it is also used as firewood, fertilizer, flower baskets, and children's toys, making it an indispensable plant in the lives of the people of Amami.
Recently, damage to cycads caused by an invasive pest (cycad scale) has become serious. The pest parasitizes the trunks and leaves of cycads and sucks the juices, causing the leaves to turn yellow and some cycads to die.
Artist: Eisuke Kubo
Born in Amami Oshima. Joined EXIT METAL WORK SUPPLY, a creator group that engages in interior design and manufacturing, and participated in numerous projects. After that, he became independent and heads the art label DAWN, which presents art, music, and video.
[Past major exhibitions]
・Drift Exhibition (Venue: Fukuoka Art pod 99/Tokyo Gallery cafe
78)
・Drift Store (Venue: Amami en-hostel & cafe bar)
・Bizarre Bazaar (Venue: Amami Manjuka)
・Tracing The Roots 2024 (Venue: Daikanyama Hillside Forum)
