The artwork “Focus” at the Teramoto House, Omihachiman, Japan is placed in the front courtyard of the old tile-merchants house.

 

The installation deals with memory. Three old tile ornaments are placed within the wooden structure and broken tiles is spread around the courtyard which has to be stepped on in order to get around and in to the house.

 

The idea is to provide an experience for the observer that is both visual and sound based (the noise that comes form stepping on broken tiles) about the importance of traditions and that if one does not pay attention and focus, what lies beyond the present is the same fate that has happened to so many other countries that has inevitably lost their path and identity.

 

You can’t see the full installation from one point (the structure always blocks parts of the internal installation). This means that you have to remember what you have seen ie. the past, in order to be present and go forward or beyond. As you walk around the installation the broken tiles beneath your feet crumbles. The internal composition is made of three historic tiles, with ornaments, based on the three wise monkeys, that rests on the tools that made them.

 

The structure is high mainly because of two reasons, first because it makes the audience look up and what’s beyond the structure is the surrounding tiles on the rooftops. The second reason is that the full installation should not be visible from the adjacent buildings.