I’m not one who throws things away easily. My eye is always drawn toward an untapped possibility, a moment when the seemingly exhausted object will once again prove useful. In our disposable present, my attention is often drawn to those objects, people, and communities who get left behind.
My new project, “Ichi Oku House,” re-situates my experimental performance practice within the realm of the left-behind.
In Japan’s remote Shimane Prefecture where I live, I will be transforming an abandoned residence, known in Japanese as an “akiya,” into both the setting and the main character in a performance piece that interweaves my family’s history (in both Shimane and America) with stories from neighbors and friends.
Tapping into the discourse of house tours, my bi-lingual solo performance will integrate moments of object theater, shadow performance, and interactive light and sound installations throughout the house to explore the burden and blessing of memory and how our treatment of objects and spaces mirrors larger, transnational trends towards the abandonment of rural communities.
I’ll be using this newsletter to provide an inside glimpse into my process as the project evolves. I hope you’ll subscribe and share with your friends.