OPU Faculty of Design Bulletinvol.4 No. 1
Work Review
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In January 1992, Okayama Symphony Building was built in the heart of Okayama city and one of itsmajor facilities is thecone巴rthallwhich offers 2001 seats with bonafide theater environment. To inaugurate the Okayama Symphony Hall, the original opera of fullseal 巴
‘Wakahim巴’（playwright: Rei Nakanishi, music: Miroru Miki, three acts) was creat巴dand F巴rform巴d In 1996, I was asked toexhibit my work at the window gallery of the Symphony Building at the same time when the opera was tob巴 p巴rformed again tocommemorate th巴 fifth year
anniv巴rsaryof the Hall.
Th巴 storyofth巴 operaisbas巴don a legend ofanci巴nt Kibi culture, and isalso about the struggle between the rural tribe of Kibi and the growingcentral tribe of Yamato which was torul巴 th巴 country. Since I have been residing amongst th巴 burialmounds of ancient Kibi past four years, thestoryof th 巴 opera sounded very intriguing. Additionally,by having the opportunities tosee the good
op巴raperformances over theyearsin 出巴 Unit巴dStates, I have gained a great appreciation toward opera for its artisticlevelinvarious fi 巴Ids ミ as thep巴rforming art, scenic and lighting design, color and historical studies in costume design, music, and drama ... Yet, tom巴， this opportunityse巴m巴dchallenging as much as attractive, for I fouundmany un-farniliar elements in designing work.
Ratherthan 巴xhibitingthe existing work, I decided to weave a new tapestry for thissp巴ci白c occasion. Upon d巴signing, th巴r巴 weretwo majoraspects I liked myself to consider;
1) Storyofth巴 opera:
It hasthr巴巴 leading rひl巴s -th巴町agich巴rひine,Princess Wakahime, h巴r husband,Princ巴 Tasa, and theEmp巴ror Takeruof the ambitious Yamato tribe. The composer, Mr. Mikicreat巴dthesp巴cifictone-rowcall巴dID serielfor each leading role toexpr巴ss the identity throughoutth巴 story. Thist巴chniqu巴 is d巴rived from "twelve-tone music ”
which th巴巴xpr巴ssionist,ArnoldSchonberg first introduced in 1921 and has been developedand adoptedfurth巴rinthe comt巴mporaryop巴ra.
Kumiko Namba
Int巴rpreting them withoutb巴ing literal intoth巴 work sproutedin my mind. If I interpritthe horizontal relativity between tones in ID seriel as thedifferent phases inth巴 person’s life,then three tonesverticallylay巴redfrom three different serielsare to create a chord with the new dynamism to set the fate ofth巴 story...
The rang巴 ofred were used throughout the three pieces tosymbolize the Princess from the acton巴 to th巴 third, changingfrom v巴rmillionto red-purpleatth巴巴nd.
Upon m巴ntioningof the materials used, I chose to use the two differ巴ntmaterials for warp and weft,repres巴nting
the culture from the Korean peninsula versusth巴 Japan inland culture. Cotton is used for the warp (Japan inland culture) and itdominat巴s on th 巴 front side of work, including the parts creatingth巴 curves,but the back side (the culture from the Korean peninsula), which are not visible to the audience, is woven with silk that I dyed into eleven different shades of light-geen to green-greyso 出at 巴ach WOY巴npan巴Iis witha diffcrcntcolor巴d W巴ft.
2) Uniquenessofexhibiting buildingandspac巴・
The window gallery is located on the thirdl巴V巴lof the Okayama Symphony Building and it is divided into three exhibition space which offer the window style (670cmW ﾗ 300cmHﾗtwo, 460cmWﾗ 300cmHﾗ one), spacing between th巴 windows.This largescal巴dspace isviewed
fr。mthe first, second and the third floor, and also from the escalator, all with some distanc巴.To bring the oneness as work of the triptych and not to be dissimulat巴d by the intricate and large scaled building structure, I used horizontallin巴 formation with the key color throughout these three pieces.
Th巴 triptych，“ Alt巴redChord Iｷ IIｷ III" was exhibited at Window Gallery at the Okayama Symphony Building from January through April 1997. This opportunity has given me a chance to approach work from a different standpoint than my usual way of searching into the realm within my self, andc巴rtainlybrought valuable stimulation forthe future work
I would like to express my gratitude to Ms. Yayo1 These ID seriel inspiredm巴 who has been working Taniguchi for coordinating thispr句巴ctand supporting m巴 mainly with visual and tactile senses. The idea of withher 巴nthusiasmfor art.
