Breath or Echo

Yuko Mohri’s installation ‘Breath or Echo’ 2017 features a subtle soundscape of electronic pulses and delicate percussion over which automatic pianos play elegant compositions. It is inspired by the vast landscape of Japan’s northernmost island Hokkaido and the work of celebrated Ainu sculptor Sunazawa Bikky (1931–89). Mohri’s installation features a recording of the poem Bikky composed to accompany Four Winds 1986, an outdoor sculpture he designed to decay with the elements. Addressed to the wind, the poem describes a beast whose four heads and four legs correspond to the seasons, to which Bikky offers a set of four-legged trousers.

Mohri responds to Bikky’s poem with scores created in collaboration with the composers Ryuichi Sakamoto and Camille Norment, which are played on modified pianos accompanied by instruments constructed from magnets, bells and ceramic insulators found in Hokkaido. Mohri’s signature street lights flicker quietly at the end of poles laid in unusual configurations, and complement the open and contemplative music.

For APT9, ‘Breath or Echo’ occupied GOMA’s River Lounge, an environment quite distinct from Hokkaido’s woody, mountainous landscape. Speakers placed on the southern edge of the building allowed Mohri to extend her installation outside, where Sakamoto and Norment’s compositions, as well as Bikky’s playful words, resonate beyond the Gallery walls.

Exhibited in 'The 9th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art' (APT9) | 24 Nov 2018 – 28 Apr 2019