 BIRD
- Wild Plants - Hiyoshi, as the title indicates, is paired with the work done
on Niijima Island. It was installed as part of a project sponsored by the city
of Yokohama, the "Matsunokawa Green Road" of Hiyoshi, Minato Kita-ku in Yokohama
in August 1996. It conveys the same message as Tanabe's other monuments, the preciousness
of the natural environment, and it shares the theme of birds, but uses quite a
different means of expression than the Niijima BIRD.
The
Niijima work does not depend on spatial centrality and physical size, but the
Hiyoshi BIRD is a mass of stainless steel, 4 meters high and weighing 1.5
tons, that confronts the surrounding space with an imposing spatial and physical
presence. It is a symbolic work of art with the classical characteristics of a
monument.
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The
site of this work, Hiyoshi, is hilly land that changed rapidly into a residential
area after World War II. The natural beauty of this formerly peaceful rural area
has faded, and it is probably difficult even for people who lived there before
the war to remember it. The urban site of Hiyoshi is completely different from
the pristine natural environment of Niijima even though the artwork is based on
the same theme. It is easy to guess that the difference is reflected in the method
of expression.
The "Matsunokawa
Green Road," the site of the work, is a band of open space being redeveloped by
the city of Yokohama as a green area along the course of a small stream named
Matsunokawa that was made into a culvert. This was a unique development, different
from most parks or revegetation projects, because the local people were closely
involved in planning, design, and construction. Yokohama City gave local people
an opportunity to participate in all stages of the Matsunokawa Green Road project,
beginning with determination of the planning concept. Arrangements were made so
that they could interact with the designer and play a role in construction. The
concept proposed to Yokohama by the citizens' group was different from an ordinary
"green road," in which commercially available garden trees are planted. They proposed
using wild plants growing naturally in the region to bring out the characteristics
of the local environment. The previous natural environment had been lost with
urban development, so the project was intended to encourage awareness of the natural
environment by restoring the wild plants that were originally a part of it. The
city handled planning and basic construction work while members of the Matsunokawa
Walking Path (Green Road) Committee, organized by local citizens, did the actual
planting on a volunteer basis. The first planting was carried out in 1992, and
more plants have been added every year since then.
The
most important reason for BIRD - Wild Plants - Hiyoshi was to obtain the
active participation of the local people in improving their living environment.
It was designed to express their wishes. The enlarged form of a bird's head sensitively
portrays the fragility and beauty, the preciousness, of nature. The simplified
eyes, ears, and the nostrils in the beak are rendered with almost brutal sharpness
as powerful artistic forms. The work has obvious social relevance as a monument
dedicated to the restoration of the natural environment.
Tanabe
was born in Hiyoshi and still lives there. He participated actively in this project
to improve the environment as an ordinary citizen. |
