art
Toge Time/Pass Time
2009
Sound installation, mobile telephone ring tone, and website
Working in the village of Hoshi Toge where, as in many parts of Japan, generic tunes are broadcast daily throughout the village to mark times of day, I developed a new chime based on a local folk song. This was broadcast daily at 3:03 PM during the Triennial event. The time was chosen by villagers as the time when they think about returning to the fields after lunch and summer siesta. I made a ring tone so that visitors and residents’ children who now live in cities could also hear the chime wherever they are. The ring tone was distributed via a web page with a link to a participatory photo blog. Finally, to encourage visitors to spend time and experience the atmosphere of Hoshi Toge, I marked four special gathering spaces or ‘clearings’ by arranging brightly painted chairs rescued from the defunct local primary school. I also arranged for benches fashioned from trusses removed from the school auditorium to be placed in locations where visitors were likely to want to rest.
Toge Time/Pass Time was commissioned by the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial 2009 and was achieved with the collaborative support of Professor Kevin Jones (Kingston University Emeritus), Professor Hiroshi Kawakami (Nihon University) Tokyo, Leo Cornall, Max Maxwell, Susan Lawson, Konosuke Kitta, Miyuki Nakajo, Pixel Group and others.
Materials
Chime based on Shongaya, arranged and performed by C Mancke and recorded to DVD.
Ringtone performed and recorded by K Jones.
Website by Pixel Group.
Timber chairs and benches, paint.
Post card and flier.
