ART QQQ
Seattle X Fukushima
Naomi Kasumi / Wagō Ryōchi
ART QQQ was a large-scale project that was conceptualized and produced by Seattle-based installation artist Naomi Kasumi in collaboration with Fukushima City poet WAGŌ Ryōichi. This project aimed at addressing the ongoing and long-term effects of the 2011 Fukushima Disaster, where the impacts of the calamity pervade within the community and region. Although it had been 9 years since the Tsunami and much of daily life has seemingly returned to normalcy, the societal stigma, suffering, and trauma that the radioactive disaster caused will take many more decades to overcome and play out.
Art QQQ thus focused on a collaborative experience that involved the people of Fukushima in the creation process with the goal of having a grass-roots installation piece that conveys the complex emotions, remembrance, and healing that our team helped guide and curate as artists and human beings.
Conceptual design
A large portion of our time in Fukushima city was spent familiarizing ourselves with the environment, mindset, and background of the project. We were given opportunities to delve into generational differences and understand the atmosphere of thinking those affected/unaffected had on the topic. Being led by Naomi Kasumi, fellow assistant Mia Dance and I were able to help translate stories into a cohesive direction with advice and guidance from WAGŌ Ryōichi, who's career has dealt with expressing these very ideas and emotions.
From there, we could accurately develop a visual and physical concept to reflect the depth and meanings that would back our conversation on the Fukushima Disaster.
We chose the Fukushima city mascot- a white rabbit, to be the core of the recognizable figure and fused this with the traditional crafts of the Tsuchiyu Onsen. We made use of accessible materials and create pom-pom figurines so we could quickly start production of them with a goal towards mass quantities.
Communal Arts
This project could not have come to fruition if it weren't for the support, participation, and collaboration of the local communities in the creation of the figurines and the studio support offered to us.
The very nature of the work intended the community to be an active part of the installation and the end result yielded items that were dynamic and mobile. With these characteristics, we are able to integrate and adapt the concept of "Don't Forget" to where it was best suited according to the community, with the message being able to spread and have personal thoughts conveyed through the messages of some figurines.
We also meant to uplift and empower the local businesses to thrive, as much of the Tsuchiyu's prominence was derived from the health of the natural onset.
To bring awareness I helped contribute to the online presence and campaign to bring awareness to the project and inform on our project based on the personification of "Q-Chan" and point residents to how they might help.
DON'T FORGET
In total we created over 200 figurines and were able to have sessions with many members of the community which really drove our production success. We immersed the work within the town and we had roughly half of these figurines stitched with personal messages so that the installation could convey the individual and unique relationship they have towards the event and it's aftermath.
The design approach- based on Naomi Kasumi's mindset behind the impact of repeating patterns, yielded a successful community-based installation that was accessible and scalable towards our goal. Anyone could be a contributor and the impression all the figurines provide is one that resonates with process and personal reflection during these moments. It was a pleasure to be an assistant on the team and collaborate with the region's communities and be supported on such a meaningful project.