Living Space Created by Artist

*日本語版はこちらです。

”To be honest, there was a lot of pressure." This is the honest opinion of artist Misato Kurimune, our third interviewee, when she was asked to design the interior of the room, the "Sogetsu-no-Ma".

The "Sogetsu-no-Ma" is a room in my house. I had a vague idea that it would be interesting to have her design the space inside the house, and I half-jokingly told Ms. Kurimune before that I would ask her to do it for me, but it came true sooner than I expected.

In this interview, I asked Ms. Kurimune in detail about the process of creating the space for the exhibition and applying it to the living space. I felt that the first and second draft didn't feel right as a space, and that the first draft was a bit too much and didn't feel comfortable as a space, so I requested her somthing like "Japanese harmony" in the space. In the second draft, I felt that the second idea didn't really express Ms. Kurimune's creative spirit, so I told her that.

As she mentioned in the interview, Ms. Kurimune was quite troubled between that and the next idea, and the breakthrough was a phrase she heard in a conversation with me, who was also the client. What I found interesting was not the phrase, but rather Ms. Kurimune's willingness to use any and all materials as the source of her ideas. The final proposal she came up with was clearly different from her previous ideas.

After the completion of "Sogetsu-no-Ma" last year, it was shown exclusively to friends of Ms. Kurimune and I. So far, about 60 people have visited and seen it and commented on how relaxing it is. I asked Ms. Kurimune why this was so and what the secret was, and she told me that she was very careful about the screening speed of the film, and it was a pleasant surprise to her to see the space become that relaxed one.

When you think of creating a space, you think of it as an architect's work, and of course, how to make the air flow through the house, how to let the light in, how to arrange the rooms and the spaces, that's an architect's work. However, in making a space more than just a functional one, the power of an artist is important, and after having this "Sogetsu-no-Ma" built, I felt strongly that the power of an artist is significant. Now that I have more opportunities to work from home due to COVID-19, having this kind of calming space in my own home has been very helpful for me to get my mind in order. (I can't even invite anyone over right now, so sometimes I use this room for meditation or to do some thinking.) I strongly hope that more and more artists and architects will work well together.

You can find her interview on YouTube (digest version) .

*Watch on YouTube