About the artwork

In this workshop local residents or visitors made graffiti pictures with chalk in white circles that had been drawn ashead of time on spaces in back streets in the downtown area of Tokamachi. The only rule was that the thing drawn had to be something seen or felt from inside the circle. A total of twenty-three workshops were held in twelve places and involved people who happened to be passing at the time. Tokamachi as conceived by residents, visitors, artists, and a wide range of people from three to ninety years of age made its appearance on the asphalt only to disappear again. I encountered many unique points of view through this “graffiti,” an art form which everyone can easily participate in. The conversation and contacts that grew out of the workshops linked redidents, vistors, and artists, and the delightful communication that resulted will remain as deep memories in the mind.