$41.26
- Softcover
- 136 pages
- 300 × 200 mm
- ISBN 9784865411782
- Japanese, English
- Dec 2023
In the soil of the garden lived shining green bugs
Those intertidal sea creatures have no eyes, no mouth,
just a transparent sack-like body filled with algae
Upon eating as much algae as they need right after birth
The creatures close their mouth and then let it degenerate
Thereafter they live on nutrients produced by the algae through photosynthesis When the tides fall, they rise to the surface and soak up the sun
When the tides rise, they submerge to keep from washing away
In the garden, while separated from the sea, they do the same
Diving into the sand when comes time of the tide
Asked how they know the right time
you replied,"it must be the algae that remember" [...]
In winter the algae brown, and the green bugs perish If they are properly connected to the sea
They'll be born again with spring
You ate the green bugs as you cleaned the garden the reason you will come back here in the spring
I found the whole place filled with foam of the waves You are standing on the waves
If I speak to you now
I'll never leave the shore
Text by Yuki Shimizu
Translation: Miyuki Hinton, Yuki Shimizu
Yuki Shimizu
Born in Chiba, Japan in 1984. Graduated from Musashino Art University, Japan in 2007. Shimizu received the 5th photography 1_WALL Grand Prize in 2011 and the 18th Miki Jun Award in 2016. Shimizu uses photography and prose to weave stories rooted in the history and lore of landscapes.
She began writing novels around 2017; in 2018, she won the Grand Prize of Shinchosha's "女による女のためのR-18文学賞". She published "よみがえりの川" (Shinchosha, 2019), "花盛りの椅子" (Shueisha, 2022), and "海は地下室に眠る" (KADOKAWA, 2023). Recent solo exhibitions include PURPLE "Fall asleep and disappear into the sea" (2023), Studio 35min/A'holic "The River of Resurrection" (2023), PGI "Empty park" (2019) "Half Dreaming Glass" (2022), Nikon salon "To the underground" (2019), Kanzan gallery " Dear my phantom" (2018), etc.
