About the artwork

Green Villa, an earthwork with views of the Three Peaks of Echigo, is composed of lines carving five hieroglyphs – fire, water, agriculture, art and heavenly god – on the surface of the new ground. The scenery of Kawanishi speaks to us of the abundance of agriculture and civil engineering as well as the faith and pride of local residents. Jomon remains abandoned in the ground provide traces of the memories and identity which inspired me to create this earthwork as a message to the universe, which protects mankind. Children and local residents gathered for the ceremony to put life into the Green Villa in relief by heaping up earth on the gentle slope, with young people dancing. Our ancestors called the energy involved in the flow of dynamic life which changes momentarily the “eight million gods,” and struggled with the earth, water, and light. Green Villa contains a richness which stands in contract to the perspective from the universe.