About the artwork

This place used to be a hardware store, though it also sold daily necessities. The store opened in the 1920s, lasted 80 years, then closed two years ago. The shopping area in the center of town used to be a busy place, and many would drop by the hardware store, where the conversation was lively. When this handsome wooden three-story building was built, it was amazing. People came from far and wide to see it. We wanted to revive the vigorous life of those days, using things left in the store. We put texts on them, in the hope that they would look like they were making lively conversation. We also hoped the texts would express the history and traditions of Matsudai through the collected words. Repainting the items we used in white expressed our desire to bring them back to life.