Day 14 features KYUN-CHOME, an artist unit presenting a video installation in Block C.
I felt that the Nara Prison Museum needed a place for prayer. This is a place where one is strongly aware of crime and punishment. However, we wanted there to be prayer beyond that. This was the first thing we felt when we visited Nara Prison. That is why we created a place of prayer filled with blue light. There, we are exhibiting the video work Dissolving Prayer into the Sea. In this work, I am submerged in the sea while speaking words of prayer. Voices cannot be heard underwater. Instead, however, the prayers take the form of bubbles and eventually dissolve into the sea. I would be happy if visitors could dive into their own inner selves while idly watching the bubbles in this space. I hope to create a time where people can reflect on what they are wishing or praying for—things we are usually not conscious of—as if drifting in the ocean.
KYUN-CHOME is an artist unit formed by Eri Homma and Nabuchi in the wake of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and nuclear accident. Based on the philosophy that art itself is a prayer, they continue to present works in various locations and through various methods. Dissolving Prayer into the Sea was produced between 2022 and 2023.
Follow the series on Instagram: “The Exquisite Prison and the 30”
