Aokigahara
Aokigahara
Date
2017
Edition Size
15
Media
Silkscreen
Binding
Coptic, Hand-sewn
Format
Artist Book
Location
Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
$ 3,200.00
Unavailable
View Collectors
Badische Landesbibliothek
Bibliotheque Nationale de France
Library of Congress (LoC)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Libraries
Smith College, Mortimer Rare Book Room
St. Olaf College
Stanford University
The University of Iowa (UI)
University of California, Irvine (UCI)
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), William Andrews Clark Library
Wellesley College, Davis Museum and Cultural Center
Aokigahara, or Jukai (Sea of trees), is a very dense forest at the base of Mount Fuji. It is known as the most popular site for suicide in Japan. The site’s popularity has been attributed to Seicho Matsumoto’s 1960 novel Kuroi Jukai (Black Sea of Trees).
The text is not printed in a classical way but a visible color change within the paper following the exposure to UV rays. The subtle color evokes the image of someone fading away in the deep forest, at the same time it stands for the decaying process of the paper.
UV-light on transparent paper, Coptic binding with acrylic thread. Cover made of laser-cut transparent paper, NT-Pairu-foil, and clear foil. Acrylic box with title and imprint in silkscreen.
aokigahara
amongst the trees hanging bodies like daylight
barely visible
on the trunks, branches, objects which some may find
disturbingthe bells always strike
five to twelve, flesh on wood, your life is a precious gift
from your parentsdecaying in the play of the wind
the sounds of cell phones, flower bouquets, please
reconsiderripcords, ropes moored to the paths, dreamcatchers retied into
nooses, mobiles twisting, the echo
of woodpeckers, dance stepson a stage made of air, please, we still need
to see each others’ faces
(translation: Emily Banwell)