Personal dictionary / 個人的な辞書, book, a5, 2019
Living in the shadow of an active volcano, in the country in which earthquakes and typhoons are part of daily life, brought the need to review, rethink and reassess held beliefs.
The Personal dictionary consists of words associated in different ways with the experience of living in Aso City. The definition of each word, however, was reshaped by the provided examples of use.
The work was created during Artist in Aso Residency.
A lot of people I encountered in Aso were not fluent in English.
The dictionary has therefore become my very first attempt at using the Japanese language in my work. AIA employees assisted me, proofreading and editing my texts when needed and explaining my mistakes. This experience made me think a lot about the very unfair, unspoken expectation for everyone to speak English.
My worldview does not apply here
- the very first thing I wrote down.
The very thought I kept going back to.
Repeating and rewriting these words.
Playing with them.
And then, there were other words. Each with its meaning that seemed inadequate to the situation I found myself in.
There was a matter of safety and a matter of coexistence.
A question of lack of fear.
There was a need for redefinition.
I already had the words
but how to use them...?
I think I only now am beginning to understand.
