Almost Transparent Island
(2017- 2019)
STATEMENT
The story is about the illegal dumping scandal of industrial waste on a rural island located in the Seto Inland Sea of Japan, called Teshima.
A huge volume of industrial waste, mainly automotive shredder residues, had been illegally dumped between 1975 and 1980s in Teshima. The beautiful beach was filled with garbage from unauthorized dumping, which was buried in the sand or piled up in heaps and burnt, causing black smoke to rise here and there. After a long legal battle, the issue was finally settled and the cleaning of the island started in 2000, and since then about 918,000 tons of industrial waste had been transferred to nearby Naoshima Island for intermediate processing. The transport was completed in March 2017, followed by the completion of intermediate processing in June 2017.
Based on this background, this project consists of two elements. One is landscape of the island I have taken after July 2017 to 2018. The other is archival photographs the island residents have taken in 1980-2000s. The archival photographs are transparent into the current landscape.
I am a generation who does not know the incident directly. Teshima is now well known for “Island of Arts” as long as Naoshima. More and more tourists are coming from all over the world and Japan to enjoy a number of the art sites, food, and nature in the island. The Teshima incident is fading with time. Therefore, I am trying to indicate what has happened along with the economic growth, in this beautiful island of Japan.
I've been a Tokyo-based photographer who travels around rural areas in Japan, looking for the long-lasting beauty in the ordinary landscapes there. Through this journey, I've came to think that the most beuatiful scenery is the landscape with natrue touched by human, not untouched nature. After the 19th centry"s economic growth, however, some of such beautiful nature has been too-much touched by human. Teshima Island in Setouchi (the Seto Inland Sea) is one of its characteristic cases.
瀬戸内海に浮かぶ豊島で起こった産業廃棄物の不法投棄事件の軌跡を辿った。
豊島の産業廃棄物は、1975年頃から1980年代にかけて持ち込まれ、豊島住民の過酷な闘いによって2000年に公害調停が成立し、豊島からの撤去と隣島・直島での処理が始まった。産業廃棄物の総量は約91万8000トンにも及び、2017年3月に豊島撤去完了・2017年6月に直島処理完了した。この経緯を受け、2017年7月から2018年に撮影した事件現場の風景に、豊島住民の方々が撮影した1980〜2000年代の写真を組み込み、作品を構成している。
「自然豊かな美しい豊島で、日本最大級の産廃事件があった」という事実を伝えるプロジェクトである。
Archival Images ©️廃棄物対策豊島住民会議
ARTIST BOOK
- Fully handmade artist edition of 44 copies
- 150 pages / H245mm x W195mm
- Signed and editioned, each edition comes with the unique transparent print
Artist book 2019 / edition of 44
Dummy book at ISSP Residency 2018
EXHIBITION
Jun.8 - 23, 2019 Solo exhibition at Reminders Photography Stronghold in Tokyo.
2019年6月13日放映 KSB瀬戸内放送 豊島事件 産廃撤去から2年…東京で美しい風景の裏にある「歴史」の写真展